I remember hearing a rumor somewhere that this figure was designed by the GI-Joe team. If true... that makes way too much sense. This feels like someone's first ever transformer
The most telling thing about this figure was the fact that I saw a dude post an excited arrival pic of it in a discord, then listed it for sale on the same discord later that same day.
Side note: The O-Ring inside these new Joe reprints is _apparently_ made of dental silicone instead of rubber like the 1980s versions. If that's true then that's excellent for longevity, seeing as silicone doesn't break down at the rate of other natural rubbers.
Funny enough, that Baroness isn't a remake of the OG, but basically a recreation of the old 80's figure down to the silly face, o-ring waist and 45 degree wrists
@@DrLockdown As both a vintage and modern collector I want to clarify that the Baroness figure and the other Hasbro VHS style Joe figures are the same as the Star Wars Retro card "reissues". Hasbro lost the original tooling (or broke it who knows) and essentially re-poped the figure. It is technically an original sculpt but it's marketed to older collectors who want the 80s 3.75 A Real American Hero (toltoys action man in Australia) figures. Technically makes this crossover worse as modern TF fans have a antiquated figure to deal with, and older collectors have modern TF they have no need or want for.
I actually never knew thus guy partsformed to this degree. When ever i watched other reviews for this megs they’d often BARELY mention it. Also the starwars bit had me wheezing.
I really do hope that Hasbro will make more out-there figures for the collaborative line. Something like the Mystery Machine would be random but interesting as a figure.
Well seeing how this turned out, I can see some amazing deals in the future, hopefully GI Joe fans are more happy about this. Also Armada Starscream really looks great.
I’ve encountered some online that are more into GI Joe than Transformers and they usually consider this and the Bumblebee to be good GI Joe toy’s, but lame Transformers toys.
Coming from the Gi Joe side of the coin I can see on this piece that things like those foot pegs on the back and the tow hook are super important to the Joe fans. Its the difference between a regular vamp and the Sears special Vamp with the Shovel on the hood.... Those distinctions are important particularly when it comes to a recreation. The Hiss itself was I very dark piece. I have an original on my shelf. It looks to me to be the same size as the original so that means if you are into it some cross play. I agree the piece looks like a hollow toy. If you ever built a Joe vehicle you will see why...vast cavernous voids. Because they didnt need to utilize the space. If the Joe team designed it then potentially they brought the idea of your not looking at it most of the time so who cares mentality. Yeah its coming in the mail as we speak. I want the hiss. Thats what does it for me here. That and that happy little mashup banner sticker if it has one. This stays in box for me. Same with the Bumblebee here down the line. Thanks for the Honest review!!! Nice to see.
Apparently HISS Megatron was mostly designed by the GI Joe design team than the Transformers design team. I guess that would explain the hefty amount of iffiness of that figure. Looks like that figure is mostly for completionist or GI Joe fans that just really want a transforming Joe scaled vehicle once in their lives. The folding up bit on Megatron’s torso is supposed to be a tow hook for towable Joe weapons. I didn’t think it could work as fusion canon storage until now. Neat! And apparently the foot-pegs on the back of the tank mode (AKA: that partsforming part that aggravates you) are bigger than the vintage ones, making vintage figures not completely compatible. Why would they do that if one of the target audiences of this figure was vintage Joe collectors? The Baroness looks like a pretty good recreation of the vintage 80s figure. From the lack of paint (if you thought the lack of paint on her is bad, wait till you see the first 80s Snake-Eyes figure with it having zero paint on it) and the articulation not being as good as modern 4 inch Joe’s, minus the head. Seriously, what is with the way the glasses were painted? The vintage figure properly masked the glasses so that the inside of the lenses were the base flesh colored plastic. Why is that not the case here? Is masking like that suddenly not cost effective now? And why are the eyes somehow tinier than the vintage one? The heads on these vintage Joe figure recreations have been pretty iffy so far. And yeah, the elastic band holding the torso & legs together eventually breaking has been an issue for the Joe collecting community for years & they know & have to deal with it. Fortunately it’s a pretty easy fix, via unscrewing the torso apart & replacing the elastic (AKA: o-rings). *Fun Fact:* Takara (practically one of the co-creators of Transformers, via Diaclone & Microchange) were one of the originators of that elastic band figure construction. Introduced in their Microman (AKA: Micronauts outside of Japan) toyline. So blame them for that construction style your not liking, I guess.
Huh. Interesting history. But yeah, this release has been really poorly handled overall. Putting an O ring in a modern recreation is like remaking a modern figure with GPS; it's just dumb
@@DrLockdown Yeah, I can see that. Although to be fair the included o-ring figure might be a sign that this figure might be mostly aimed for collectors of the 80s Joe line. Although the foot pegs on the partsforming back piece not being compatible with the vintage ones kinda messes with that idea.
@@DrLockdown Also I’ve encountered a decent amount of Joe fans online hoping for reissues of the 80s o-ring Joe figures. Especially the early ones that are getting pricier in the aftermarket lately.
Honestly tempted to just get this set for the nearly 1:1 replica of the vintage O-Ring figure of The Baroness to go with my 80s figures and the vehicle mode alone since it's like, kinda cheap on Amazon. 80 or so dollareydoos isn't _too_ bad - that's the going rate of the most recent reissue of the Hiss Tank online anyway from what I've seen. Side note, as a fan of G.I. Joe I'm legitimately stoked that we're getting more O-Ring figures like Cobra Commander, the Cobra Troopers and _especially_ Storm Shadow, since the last time we got an O-Ring figure using V1 Storm Shadow was 2004 - though we're not actually getting a figure using that mould, because they're _re-creating _*_ALL_*_ the figures from scratch with brand new moulds based on the originals._ Yes, including The Baroness. I'm more forgiving of that figure because like... y'know, it's made to be a re-issue of the original after all. Getting rid of the waist joint entirely and screwing with the wrists would kinda negate the point of it being a re-issue of the O-Ring toy specifically which hasn't been seen since 2002, and even that it wasn't in the right black colour scheme. At that point they may as well have just repacked the Modern Edition figure which isn't what's going on now as Hasbro's shifted to re-issuing the vintage styled ones.
Man. The entire Collaborative line (with few exceptions) is a perfect example of what I like to call "neat concept...what the hell happened to the execution?"
The grate section is called Diamond Plating. Others have pointed it out, but Baroness is a Homage to older GI Joe figures, which used that Rubber Band System, they are doing it for accuracy, which can still be bad, it's just that's the point.
The magician has returned! Wait, if he’s back and you’ve set cliffjumper free from his role as the parts forming joke, does that imply he will undo his past atrocities? Now that I think about it, the statute of limitations hasn’t passed yet so it’s doubtful.
Great review as always man. I canceled my order once I saw how hollow megatron was. It sucks about that third party company as well. I was hoping for a good soundwave hiss tank to add with megatron and bumblebee to have a nice little G.I.Joe cross over shelf. I enjoyed the cross over comics and was hoping to get some of the designs in plastic form. Like Optimus Prime was a Hiss tank because they were captured by Cobra while they were asleep in the ark. And a lot of the autobots had Cobra vehicle forms. Oh well. I'll just stick with collecting legends for now since iron factory is starting to show figures again (besides the samurai line). Keep up the great work. Always excited for your next review.
I'm with TJOmega when he stated that these might've worked had they not tried to shoehorn compatibility with the G.I. Joe figures. Just make them figures that turn into the vehicles, that way, much less shell and kibble on the finished robot.
Every time I look at the Needlenose bts thread on tfworld I see people suggesting more inappropriate retools than the previous. It's absolutely hilarious.
When I saw Baroness she made me think of Daria over anything else, it probably would have been better for them to re-release one of the more recent GI Joe figures, they could have saved on mold tooling AND it would look better.
I love your Vids Mate. They always keep me Entertained. The Only Issue i have is that there should be Abother two Numbers behind that Subscriber Count.
They could have just made it so Megatron’s head folds into the torso. Yeah, we’d still see Megatron’s chest in the back of the tank, but at least it’s easier to explain away or doesn’t use parts forming.
Baroness is a rerelease of the original ARAH line. I wish they continued the updated articulation 3.75 line, but #Hasbro cancelled it in favor of retro rereleases.
I’ve got three comments: 1) as a fan of ER Cliffjumper, I’m happy to see him no longer used as a punching bag (totally understandable why you did use him as such) 2) The hbomberguy reference was NOT expected; I started coughing because of how much I was laughing. 3) I feel like if this figure was released around 5 years ago, and for a bit lower price, everybody’s opinion on it would be more positive. However, in the context of when it came out and the quality of it’s contemporary figures, it is definitely a disappointment
When I saw pictures all I thought was "why is this one not a new character design like all the others? A cobra BAT trooper's look would blend well, plus it'd feel like a Cobra copy-job mech to mix in playtime battles. And now, having seen the announced Soundwave, there's little hope for better. A bloody shame.
I'd only get this when it goes on sale for at most $50 USD. And just for the sheer novelty of a large 3.75" action figure-scale Transformer to complement a collection of similar scale not-HasTak carbots. And they're of better quality at retail prices of ~$50~$100.
The issue with baroness is that iy is the original fivure mold. But the plastic isnt the same as the original. I think they were hooing to okease the retro collection people who were mad at their retro line because they were just retooled 25th anniversary figures and not the original retro ones.
wonderful video! Do you think you'll be covering magic square's recent masterpiece optimus? it's a really interesting piece to examine because magic square has a constant habit of overcomplicating their legends transformations, but this MP outing (MS-02 light of peace) seems to be one of the simplest G1 MP opimus primes out recently. People are even calling it an upscale of the legends one!
Honestly I wish this wasn't held down by the constraints of the g1 design, they could have easily given megatron a black colour scheme at least for his torso and helmet (kinda like the g1 comics) so that everything meshed together better and then made the "shield" his chest, maybe with an inside out gimmick where one side has the cobra insignia and the other has the decepticon insignia. Something like that would at least have been a better justification for the parts-forming.
I mean no offense to you in this, but I think the Baroness section would have benefited from G.i. joe fandom context that isn't known in TF circles. This Baroness is trying to be a 1:1 recreation of the original 1983 Baroness, which it does with flying colors. Even down to the O-ring design which many of my older collector friends who are G.I. joe fans and a large part of the fandom have been clamoring for. People in the Joe community more times than not prefer O-ring to the modern figure style. This baroness is a bigger part of the modern reissue line which yes, while being new molds because the old ones have gone to shit, its trying to recreate that old figure flaws and all, its a part of its charm. Its like railing the Walmart G1 Optimus (which was made under the same conditions of being a new mold recreating the 82 Diaclone toy) for not being as articulated or polished as Earthrise Optimus.
Given this is a crossover figure, I feel it's inappropriate to try and recreate the original design. If transformers crossed over with NASCAR and had a random g1 Huffer redeco, I'd be hella confused
@@DrLockdown I get that, but at the same time, that was 100% the intention. While on the TF side, this is looked at as a part of the collaborative line, the Joe team has treated this as another reissue release with a quirky transforming hiss.
@@DrLockdown Thats what the fans wanted, people were in revolt at the Walmart 4-inch reissues that ended up shelfwarming. So then the joe team rolled out the Haslab Skystriker and explicitly said if this does well, it will be the revival of O-ring and the Joe fandom spoke with their wallets. Its why the Pulse reissue line started and everyone has been happy with it. Plus knowing how to repair o-rings is almost a pre-requisit for collecting vintage joes. The joe fandom is just built different. Not saying locking baroness behind hiss megs was the right call, I personally would have done the actual hiss driver, but I'm not hasbro corperate.
I wish instead of these being G1 characters with gi joe bits on I wish these were true fusions of these charcters with the vehicle Like What would megatron truley looknlike if he were a hiss tank
Loved this review, mate! It really hurts to see a novel concept go into such a deppressing road, especially when it's the case for series that even the company itself owns. Hard to say what they even think of doing for collaborative projects, but I feel like they need to make a miracle for it to turn out good. Also, I'm surprised to see you got some of Legacy Wave 3 now! Hope it's not too much of a bother, but was there any specific one you have handled that impressed you so far?
@@DrLockdown So I'm guessing all the budget went to making it bigger. Not into articulation, meaningful engineering to avoid egregious partsforming , or avoid waffling...
Good to see another vid from you, and it’s always fun to watch you dig into something even if I disagree. You can kind of blame the baroness figures build on a lot of big gi joe fans from what I’ve seen because they’ve been pushing for more o-ring figures, which was the original 80s build the 3 3/4 figures used. They actually had newer more advanced designs in their retro collection, like Star Wars with its vintage collection line. For Megatron, there really should have been more collaboration with the transformers team to get the best of both worlds if possible out of this figure.
I've heard conflicting stuff about that. Some commenters have said fans were pushing for the o rings, but my friends who are into GI Joe are saying nobody was asking for that. Dunno what to think at this point
@@DrLockdown I put that together because I saw a lot of people asking for more o-rings on the hisstank forum but it might be different elsewhere, anyway great vid and I hope you’re doing well.
you know a figure is good when it single-handedly manages to bury the dead horse that was ER-Cliffjumper AND force you to say something good about MS-Ragnar
@@DrLockdown yeah, Ragnar's shittiness is on a whole 'nother level, but the fact that this thing- this insult in plastic form, managed to get you to compliment Ragnar in any capacity at all is quite an achievement, tbh
I bought this (and it'll be here soon) despite the bad reviews. The face colouring and bland chest are the biggest problems. I do wish they'd fixed up the cannon, but I am sure someone will make a mod kit to help with that (and some other stuff to fix other ugly open areas). As for Baroness, I think you're a bit off in saying she links TF and GI Joe, because its the Hiss Tank itself that links it. The figure is just a reminent of a requirement to give an exclusive figure with a 'play toy' just like all (? I'd say most) the Joe vehicles beyond the cheapest price point one's (from the 80s). But the real problem is HASBRO generally. The pricing of TF is still less severe (and a lot more accessible) than the current GI Joe stuff, which has increased in price considerably. I watch some of the Joe fan channels and the sheer Hell they go through from Hasbro - from price increases, delays in distribution (we're talking 6+ months), announcements for things several waves ahead of what has been released. Also in the UK Hasbro would (starting shortly) only sell their Joe stuff from Hasbro Pulse... A thing the USA and the UK have. Where that leaves Aussie Joe fans long term, who knows... Possibly no Joe stuff because we are NOT allowed to buy stuff from Hasbro Pulse (nor will we ever get our own version to order from). Hasbro is making record profits and somehow is still imploding. Expect some serious missteps to happen with TF stuff before too long.
It looks pretty close to like what the Hiss tank I had back in the 80's did, it's the robot mode that really kills this set and even my 80's Baroness had more paint and the glasses/eyes? Why'd they do that?! As far as the elastic waste, it's actually real easy to maintain and lasts quite a while. It's very much the 80's style build and has a wonderful screw making replacing the elastic super easy... usually Far as Cliffjumper is concerned, you don't even have to take the back off, it has a place in robot mode and could have been left attached somehow but things like Ironhide's roof and this thing's back are ridiculous. They have no way of integrating with the robot other than to be a dumb looking shield...
11:36 bringing the legacy minerva figure into the review reminds me that I actually got the figure at a GameStop just yesterday which is weird because she was depicted as a Walgreens exclusive. but, there she was. fresh on a shelf at a GameStop. in Canada of all places.
huh... well I guess that's ok as long as we somewhat get those kinds of exclusives around here. speaking of which, my only experience with the collaboratives line is with the Draculas figure and its a lot of fun. the main reason that sold me on getting it in the first place was the price. at first I believe it was around $75CAD but I wouldn't get it because I didn't think it was justifiable for what is essentially a 5 year old deluxe remoulded and repainted to look like a 90 year old horror movie monster. then, later down the line, it ran for about $53CAD but I still wouldn't get it. but then, the day after thanksgiving, I saw 3 copies of the figure on shelf, at a toys r us at no less, for, I kid you not: $26.50. yeah as you can imagine, I snatched one up when I got the chance. thank god I waited otherwise I would've regretted my decision one not giving the patience. good timing too. I was hoping to get the figure for halloween so, hey! sweet timing toys r us!
Oh god. Can't get over how weird it feels to know that Walgreens exclusive Transformers are a thing. I've got a feeling that if Legacy does a new version of TFAnimated Ratchet. It will be Walgreens exclusive because well. They're a drug store.
@@GatorRay yeah I think its was like two days when I did get minerva is when I figured out that all the Walgreens exclusives that were released since siege were medical bots. (with the exception of siege red alert both regular and Netflix I think)
Walgreens seems to do all the ambulance colour exclusives (siege ratchet, kingdom red alert, legacy Minerva). The only exception is Earthrise, because bluestreak...isn't...
I have mixed feelings about this crossover. As a Transformers fan it seems to commit so many sins but still appeals to me. As a Joes fan I’m super excited because you can now have Megatron deploying Alley-Vipers and then supporting their advance! I managed to pick it up on sale 90 AUD from gamesmen in Sydney so I’m actually more okay with it at that price point.😊 On a hilarious note, I’d hate to ride in the troop compartment at the back of that tank. Could you imagine six dudes sitting in there with Megatron’s complete upper torso as the back wall?!
I'm from Croatia, and being a Transformers fan there is...diffucult to say the least. #1 The prices- 1 US dollar is 7.5/8 kunas, which is a lot. These days, your retail Deluxe costs 250 kunas, and a year or so ago, they cost 150/200 kunas. Voyagers are now almost 300 kunas and before they were 250. If US dollars and kunas were 1:1 pricewise, a regular voyager would cost 280/300 US dollars. Yikes. #2- Distribution- For me, there are 3 ways I get Tf figures, going to a shop which has barely any new waves of figures, going to online shops which overprice their products a lot and buying second-hand figures from older lines (tf movies, unicron trilogy etc.)
I think it says all that needs to be said about this figure that the thing I'm bringing away from the video is the word "dollarydoos." I'll be adopting that like I did "No worries."
As both a fan of TF And G.I. Joe, these collaborative figures should have been a dream come true. A transforming HISS tank that actually scales and works with Joe figures? Hell yeah, that sounds awesome! ...and then you look at the final product and go "...oh."
As someone getting into collecting GI Joe with my dad, I HATE Hasbro's switch from their original updates to the 3.75 inch figures to straight remakes of the original figures. Those figures were okay for the time, but they're absolutely inferior to the updated versions they were making, both in articulation and look, with the new ones completely revamping the sculpting and paint. The new versions still have their issues and limitations, and they're also very inconsistent with what articulation is included in each figure, but they are still way better than what my dad had in the 80s. I want to add onto our small collection of these great-looking figures, but I can't now, cuz everything new Hasbro's coming out with for Retro Joe releases are recreating the original figures, which just do not mix with the newer aesthetics of the updated figures. I have this Megatron figure now, and I and my dad will not open Baroness, she looks better in-box than she would mixed in with the rest of our figures. Swapping her out for the updated HISS Driver from the HISS Tank reissue from last year improves his compatibility with figures of this size. He just looks cool with the bright red driver manning the guns on his back. And speaking of the HISS reissue, that's the other reason I kinda love this figure despite his flaws, as he's meant to look almost near-indistinguishable from an original HISS Tank. So not only does he scale with Joe figures, but he provides another HISS Tank for the collection. This, of course, does not excuse the multiple flaws of it. It is way overpriced for what it is, and apparently the reason it's as bad as it is is that the Transformers team had no involvement with its development. It is only a collaboration in what properties it combines, when it should've been an actual collaboration between both dev teams. The fact we can get stuff as solid as SS-86 Grimlock or the other Dinobots, for $30-$40 under the price of this, shows how different this could've been had they actually gotten the current Transformers team involved in this. Oh, also, I think it's clear these collaborative figures don't have nearly as much development time as actual main-line Transformers figures. I think just extending how long the design team has to make these figures could help a lot, though maybe they can't do that cuz they only have the license to those properties for a limited time. As you mentioned, though, this doesn't apply at all to the GI Joe collaboration, this could've been something that took them a few years to work on, but instead it was probably less than that, and that's made even worse with the exclusion of anyone actually working on current Transformers stuff. There may be an excuse for other collaborative figures to be bad, but there really doesn't seem to be any good excuse for this.
Usually I watched your videos to get an alternate perspective on figures since I tend to be a bit too nice to them, but after watching this video, yeah this thing deserved everything you gave it. There's just nothing excusable for something like this at the price point it has anywhere in the world, and as someone who liked Cliffjumper well enough that I was able to look over the bad partsforming, yeah I have no excuse for it on this figure, this is just BAD, I think I gasped when I first saw it in the video too.
I love this design so so much but the mass amount of hollow spaces, especially the hollow arms, drag it down and with the parts forming and the partner minifig make it impossible for to justify buying it
To be honest I was kinda hooked in on the novelty of it being an actual GI Joe crossover thing... But I cancelled my order after seeing this video because I havent seen many other reviews bring up the budget not matching the quality. Maybe all of it went to making that box look super radical, I guess! Great video though. Had my doubts about Megs and this more or less confirms it. Funnily enough I only cared about keeping it in tank mode and messing with Baroness but with the price being brought up a lot it made me reconsider a lot.
Glad I could help. I'm sure there will be other hiss tanks on the market at cheaper prices, provided you don't care about scale. And even then, it's a fan favourite vehicle. They'll do another, minus the transformer part
@@DrLockdown Haha yeah, there'll definitely be more. I probably could've gone for the Haslab one, since this just kinda fumbles the ball as both a GI Joe vehicle and a Transformer. Thanks again for the review!
I don't care about GI JOE but the Soundwave collab is my favorite Soundwave. I even like the Bumblebee. Never bothered with the Megatron HISS tank because he looks like crap from 100 miles away lol.
The ONLY Collaborative figures I have and like are Ectotron and Gigawatt. Gigawatt because he's good and Ectotron because you're totally wrong about that figure. I MIGHT consider that Maverick figure if he didn't look like he was cast out of wax or if they fixed his issues and did a Go-Bots homage to Leader-1 out of him but that aside, the rest blew chunks and I could see that easily. Sorry you got this figure but I'm not sorry as this review is the result and it was hilarious. Thank you!
Hahah, hello TJ X'D I think the general issue is that Hasbro has something of a habit of making the GI Joe cross-overs the same way a lot of the old GI Joe toys were - flimsy as hell, and hollow EVERYWHERE. No idea why. Hasbro, we were NOT nostalgic for the fact that GI Joe toys can break with only the slightest bit of pressure! I should know, I owned the Action Force (yes, that's what they were called here in the UK) Mobile Command Centre, and holy hell does that thing break if you so much as sneeze on it. It's like it's made of tissue paper.
It would be like LEGO making new versions of the OG Hero Factory team toys. All the way down to using the same way to easy to break socket system from Bionicle that was used for WAY TO LONG!
Actually just a white sheet of wrapping paper. There's an AI green screen application that turns anything into a green screen asset. It's called runway. Super useful
It's not. I've compared the two and it's slightly different, and several comments have pointed out the original has been lost anyway. They had to make a new mould from the ground up, and they could've put better hardware into the joints easily.
KABOOM! So the pegs on the back of the Hiss tank are foot pegs to stick figures on the back like in the box art, comic, and even show. The Baroness is also a reissue from the 80s because 40th anniversary ressons. Also, modern joes don't use O rings because in the late '90s/ early 2000's they brought it back. But, they were so low quality and they were also glued together so nobody could even replace them if they did snap. So, after a lot of backlashes, they changed and now use ball joints and hinges.
@@DrLockdown That's a shame. It would have been better if they used the Retro Collection Baroness mold since it uses the modern articulated mold of her. Also, it's super rare I only got through shire luck at Power con 2021. Fun fact the Retro collection Cobra Trooper mold is by far the most articulated figure mold in the entire line.
Some commenters here say the mould was lost. Dunno about the validity of that, but either way using an O ring on a modern designed figure is super dumb
5:15 I'd just call it an anti-slip or non-slip surface. If you haven't completely written off Australian retail, you might be interested to know JB Hi-Fi has Transformers toys. I was surprised to find a Legacy Elita-1 at my local store after the usual department and toy stores turned up blank.
Yes...I mention JB hi fi in the video. It's getting better, but so was EB two years ago, before they went to shit again. I'll believe this is a change for the better when I see long term consistency.
Honestly, you could have just made the whole review you screaming with subtitles Would have gotten the point across, plus it would have been more cathartic!
The GI Joe situation is a weird one to me. In the fiction, the combination of the two franchises has proven exciting or at least cause for intrigue, especially in recent years in the comics and movies. The toys… have consistently had issues it would seem, though I haven’t heard anything about GI Joe Bumblebee. Frankly, I think Hasbro probably should’ve plugged transformers into GI Joe as life support years ago. They’re a good blend in the right hands
Finally, Cliffjumer is free! So happy for the little guy
He's earned a holiday :p
@@DrLockdown YAY :D
@@DrLockdown will Megatron become the new figure to make fun off instead of cliff?
Yep
@@DrLockdown ER cliff may not be the best but he's the reason I started collecting and now I have 297 figures
I remember hearing a rumor somewhere that this figure was designed by the GI-Joe team. If true... that makes way too much sense. This feels like someone's first ever transformer
Twice now that's been said in the comments. May have to look into it
@@DrLockdown Let us know what you find! 😊
I’ve heard the same thing, but I can’t remember from where
The most telling thing about this figure was the fact that I saw a dude post an excited arrival pic of it in a discord, then listed it for sale on the same discord later that same day.
Ouch...that's...sad...
WOW!
Side note: The O-Ring inside these new Joe reprints is _apparently_ made of dental silicone instead of rubber like the 1980s versions. If that's true then that's excellent for longevity, seeing as silicone doesn't break down at the rate of other natural rubbers.
Funny enough, that Baroness isn't a remake of the OG, but basically a recreation of the old 80's figure down to the silly face, o-ring waist and 45 degree wrists
Yeah, that's what I was getting at. Since it's not a reissue, there's virtually no reason to do her this bad.
@@DrLockdown As both a vintage and modern collector I want to clarify that the Baroness figure and the other Hasbro VHS style Joe figures are the same as the Star Wars Retro card "reissues". Hasbro lost the original tooling (or broke it who knows) and essentially re-poped the figure. It is technically an original sculpt but it's marketed to older collectors who want the 80s 3.75 A Real American Hero (toltoys action man in Australia) figures. Technically makes this crossover worse as modern TF fans have a antiquated figure to deal with, and older collectors have modern TF they have no need or want for.
Yeah total mistake marketing wise
They should have used the updated modern Baroness figure
I love you describing the HISS tank as a mechanical duck, simply because I love ducks
Needs more lemonade stands
@@DrLockdown only if they've got some grapes too
Bam bam bam
@@DrLockdown and then he waddled away, waddle waddle
I actually never knew thus guy partsformed to this degree. When ever i watched other reviews for this megs they’d often BARELY mention it. Also the starwars bit had me wheezing.
That's... concerning. You'd think it would be a bigger deal for most reviewers
Despite this review being about Megatron, I can't help but feel envious that managed to find the new ARMADA Starscream and Minerva figures.
Don't be. I had to import from Asia. Aussie retail STINKS
Loved the green screen shenanigans going on in this review. Good stuff.
i was NOT expecting a hbomberguy reference in my transformers review but i very much welcome it
Hbomberguy is great
I was hoping I wasnt the only one to get it. X>
I really do hope that Hasbro will make more out-there figures for the collaborative line. Something like the Mystery Machine would be random but interesting as a figure.
I'd be happy with anything, as long as they just improved
Just retool SS86 Ironhide into the Mystery Machine and call the resulting Autobot “Enigma”.
It's possible. Did some checking, and the license seems to be freely given. It's not tied to any competitor like Mattel or Neca. Suppose it's possible
This looks like that old 3rd party triple changer Megatron. The one that looks like spaghetti.
Well seeing how this turned out, I can see some amazing deals in the future, hopefully GI Joe fans are more happy about this. Also Armada Starscream really looks great.
He's pretty good. Decent Voyager
I’ve encountered some online that are more into GI Joe than Transformers and they usually consider this and the Bumblebee to be good GI Joe toy’s, but lame Transformers toys.
Hot damn! This is some next level editing!! Kudos to you Doc!!
Aw. Thanks mate. Been using runway a lot more: an AI masker that lets me make green screens from any footage
@@DrLockdown dawg you came up quick as hell.
Coming from the Gi Joe side of the coin I can see on this piece that things like those foot pegs on the back and the tow hook are super important to the Joe fans. Its the difference between a regular vamp and the Sears special Vamp with the Shovel on the hood.... Those distinctions are important particularly when it comes to a recreation. The Hiss itself was I very dark piece. I have an original on my shelf. It looks to me to be the same size as the original so that means if you are into it some cross play. I agree the piece looks like a hollow toy. If you ever built a Joe vehicle you will see why...vast cavernous voids. Because they didnt need to utilize the space. If the Joe team designed it then potentially they brought the idea of your not looking at it most of the time so who cares mentality. Yeah its coming in the mail as we speak. I want the hiss. Thats what does it for me here. That and that happy little mashup banner sticker if it has one. This stays in box for me. Same with the Bumblebee here down the line. Thanks for the Honest review!!! Nice to see.
Apparently HISS Megatron was mostly designed by the GI Joe design team than the Transformers design team. I guess that would explain the hefty amount of iffiness of that figure. Looks like that figure is mostly for completionist or GI Joe fans that just really want a transforming Joe scaled vehicle once in their lives.
The folding up bit on Megatron’s torso is supposed to be a tow hook for towable Joe weapons. I didn’t think it could work as fusion canon storage until now. Neat!
And apparently the foot-pegs on the back of the tank mode (AKA: that partsforming part that aggravates you) are bigger than the vintage ones, making vintage figures not completely compatible. Why would they do that if one of the target audiences of this figure was vintage Joe collectors?
The Baroness looks like a pretty good recreation of the vintage 80s figure. From the lack of paint (if you thought the lack of paint on her is bad, wait till you see the first 80s Snake-Eyes figure with it having zero paint on it) and the articulation not being as good as modern 4 inch Joe’s, minus the head. Seriously, what is with the way the glasses were painted? The vintage figure properly masked the glasses so that the inside of the lenses were the base flesh colored plastic. Why is that not the case here? Is masking like that suddenly not cost effective now? And why are the eyes somehow tinier than the vintage one? The heads on these vintage Joe figure recreations have been pretty iffy so far.
And yeah, the elastic band holding the torso & legs together eventually breaking has been an issue for the Joe collecting community for years & they know & have to deal with it. Fortunately it’s a pretty easy fix, via unscrewing the torso apart & replacing the elastic (AKA: o-rings).
*Fun Fact:* Takara (practically one of the co-creators of Transformers, via Diaclone & Microchange) were one of the originators of that elastic band figure construction. Introduced in their Microman (AKA: Micronauts outside of Japan) toyline. So blame them for that construction style your not liking, I guess.
Huh. Interesting history.
But yeah, this release has been really poorly handled overall. Putting an O ring in a modern recreation is like remaking a modern figure with GPS; it's just dumb
@@DrLockdown Yeah, I can see that. Although to be fair the included o-ring figure might be a sign that this figure might be mostly aimed for collectors of the 80s Joe line. Although the foot pegs on the partsforming back piece not being compatible with the vintage ones kinda messes with that idea.
@@DrLockdown Also I’ve encountered a decent amount of Joe fans online hoping for reissues of the 80s o-ring Joe figures. Especially the early ones that are getting pricier in the aftermarket lately.
The Baroness is the Classic GI Joe old school design called O-Ring (Rubberband and hook in the middle). Most Joe collectors want that in the figures.
3:12
That is dedication to your craft,
I salute you
Thanks mate. My recommendations certainly don't :p
Honestly tempted to just get this set for the nearly 1:1 replica of the vintage O-Ring figure of The Baroness to go with my 80s figures and the vehicle mode alone since it's like, kinda cheap on Amazon. 80 or so dollareydoos isn't _too_ bad - that's the going rate of the most recent reissue of the Hiss Tank online anyway from what I've seen.
Side note, as a fan of G.I. Joe I'm legitimately stoked that we're getting more O-Ring figures like Cobra Commander, the Cobra Troopers and _especially_ Storm Shadow, since the last time we got an O-Ring figure using V1 Storm Shadow was 2004 - though we're not actually getting a figure using that mould, because they're _re-creating _*_ALL_*_ the figures from scratch with brand new moulds based on the originals._ Yes, including The Baroness. I'm more forgiving of that figure because like... y'know, it's made to be a re-issue of the original after all. Getting rid of the waist joint entirely and screwing with the wrists would kinda negate the point of it being a re-issue of the O-Ring toy specifically which hasn't been seen since 2002, and even that it wasn't in the right black colour scheme. At that point they may as well have just repacked the Modern Edition figure which isn't what's going on now as Hasbro's shifted to re-issuing the vintage styled ones.
Man. The entire Collaborative line (with few exceptions) is a perfect example of what I like to call "neat concept...what the hell happened to the execution?"
Laziness. That's what happened
@@DrLockdown ...fair point.
The grate section is called Diamond Plating.
Others have pointed it out, but Baroness is a Homage to older GI Joe figures, which used that Rubber Band System, they are doing it for accuracy, which can still be bad, it's just that's the point.
Ah. Thanks mate.
24 hours and only now I get a response on what it is :p
Coming back to this video, it almost feels like this set was an easter egg for Skybound Megatron
The Best Part of this Review are Cliffjumpers Retirement and the Subscriber Joke. The rest is awesome but I died at those bits
He's earned a break
The magician has returned! Wait, if he’s back and you’ve set cliffjumper free from his role as the parts forming joke, does that imply he will undo his past atrocities?
Now that I think about it, the statute of limitations hasn’t passed yet so it’s doubtful.
Hes always there.
First found this selling for the same price as a Voyager a few months ago, now it seems to be selling at the price of a Deluxe
Great review as always man. I canceled my order once I saw how hollow megatron was. It sucks about that third party company as well. I was hoping for a good soundwave hiss tank to add with megatron and bumblebee to have a nice little G.I.Joe cross over shelf. I enjoyed the cross over comics and was hoping to get some of the designs in plastic form. Like Optimus Prime was a Hiss tank because they were captured by Cobra while they were asleep in the ark. And a lot of the autobots had Cobra vehicle forms. Oh well. I'll just stick with collecting legends for now since iron factory is starting to show figures again (besides the samurai line).
Keep up the great work. Always excited for your next review.
Okay that ending got a genuine laugh out of me
Lol, it was a last minute addition. Figured it would be a waste to hide the dance segment in a second long gag.
Most Underated Tranformer youtuber on the planet well done my dude
I'm with TJOmega when he stated that these might've worked had they not tried to shoehorn compatibility with the G.I. Joe figures. Just make them figures that turn into the vehicles, that way, much less shell and kibble on the finished robot.
Looks like he can hold around 4 figures? Yees, Megs is the bus!
No, that's eunie.
Every time I look at the Needlenose bts thread on tfworld I see people suggesting more inappropriate retools than the previous. It's absolutely hilarious.
When I saw Baroness she made me think of Daria over anything else, it probably would have been better for them to re-release one of the more recent GI Joe figures, they could have saved on mold tooling AND it would look better.
Nah apparently this is what they shat out to cover the "reissue" quota
I feel like they could have easily made the parts-forming but into the chest if they had a bigger budget
They had a bigger budget. The figure is absurdly expensive as is, and they aren't paying licensing fees to anyone.
It's a choice, not a compromise
23:20 clever reference mate
Haha, poor old Ben... actually...no... deserving old Ben...
I love your Vids Mate. They always keep me Entertained. The Only Issue i have is that there should be Abother two Numbers behind that Subscriber Count.
Hehe. Thanks mate. Perhaps one day.
They could have just made it so Megatron’s head folds into the torso. Yeah, we’d still see Megatron’s chest in the back of the tank, but at least it’s easier to explain away or doesn’t use parts forming.
The lack of care on show is staggering
Baroness is a rerelease of the original ARAH line. I wish they continued the updated articulation 3.75 line, but #Hasbro cancelled it in favor of retro rereleases.
I have so many ideas that I want for this line but even if I put aside the ones that are basically impossible, I don't think they could do it
I’ve got three comments:
1) as a fan of ER Cliffjumper, I’m happy to see him no longer used as a punching bag (totally understandable why you did use him as such)
2) The hbomberguy reference was NOT expected; I started coughing because of how much I was laughing.
3) I feel like if this figure was released around 5 years ago, and for a bit lower price, everybody’s opinion on it would be more positive. However, in the context of when it came out and the quality of it’s contemporary figures, it is definitely a disappointment
Yeah absolutely doesn't hold up to legacy or ss
the baroness figure looks like daria
That's an insult to Daria
Even tho there is a curse. Gigawatt is still the one that broke it
Sadly he's one of the few that turned out alright
When I saw pictures all I thought was "why is this one not a new character design like all the others? A cobra BAT trooper's look would blend well, plus it'd feel like a Cobra copy-job mech to mix in playtime battles.
And now, having seen the announced Soundwave, there's little hope for better. A bloody shame.
I’m gonna be honest, when you popped into of the video Doc, it actually scared the shit outta me. 😂
I'd only get this when it goes on sale for at most $50 USD. And just for the sheer novelty of a large 3.75" action figure-scale Transformer to complement a collection of similar scale not-HasTak carbots. And they're of better quality at retail prices of ~$50~$100.
At that price it would be more palatable, but still very disappointing
I honestly wish they would have made a new character and not megatron witch probably would have made the figure better
After the sales of this, they probably won't do new characters again. The main five (prime, bee, megs, soundwave and Starscream) sell like hotcakes
The issue with baroness is that iy is the original fivure mold. But the plastic isnt the same as the original. I think they were hooing to okease the retro collection people who were mad at their retro line because they were just retooled 25th anniversary figures and not the original retro ones.
Cliffjumper has been outdone and can rest now. Never thought I’d see the day.
It's just more appropriate
wonderful video! Do you think you'll be covering magic square's recent masterpiece optimus? it's a really interesting piece to examine because magic square has a constant habit of overcomplicating their legends transformations, but this MP outing (MS-02 light of peace) seems to be one of the simplest G1 MP opimus primes out recently. People are even calling it an upscale of the legends one!
No interest in it I'm afraid. Sorry about that. I've already got three MP10s. I'm good.
Doc, GI Joe has always had the rubber O-Ring. It's always had the same issue
It's been over thirty years. Time for a change
Honestly I wish this wasn't held down by the constraints of the g1 design, they could have easily given megatron a black colour scheme at least for his torso and helmet (kinda like the g1 comics) so that everything meshed together better and then made the "shield" his chest, maybe with an inside out gimmick where one side has the cobra insignia and the other has the decepticon insignia.
Something like that would at least have been a better justification for the parts-forming.
WHERE'S MY TRANSFORMING PONY HASBRO?! WHERE IS IT?!!!!!
Dunno how well the last crossover statue went: the one that was a pony in prime colours. We'll have to see.
OUR FAVOURITE WIZARD IS BACK OH MY GOD
Better call the police. He's a wanted man
I mean no offense to you in this, but I think the Baroness section would have benefited from G.i. joe fandom context that isn't known in TF circles. This Baroness is trying to be a 1:1 recreation of the original 1983 Baroness, which it does with flying colors. Even down to the O-ring design which many of my older collector friends who are G.I. joe fans and a large part of the fandom have been clamoring for. People in the Joe community more times than not prefer O-ring to the modern figure style.
This baroness is a bigger part of the modern reissue line which yes, while being new molds because the old ones have gone to shit, its trying to recreate that old figure flaws and all, its a part of its charm. Its like railing the Walmart G1 Optimus (which was made under the same conditions of being a new mold recreating the 82 Diaclone toy) for not being as articulated or polished as Earthrise Optimus.
Given this is a crossover figure, I feel it's inappropriate to try and recreate the original design. If transformers crossed over with NASCAR and had a random g1 Huffer redeco, I'd be hella confused
@@DrLockdown I get that, but at the same time, that was 100% the intention. While on the TF side, this is looked at as a part of the collaborative line, the Joe team has treated this as another reissue release with a quirky transforming hiss.
Definitely not the way to do it then. Putting an o ring is like reissuing mirage without reinforcing the waist: it's just going to break again
@@DrLockdown Thats what the fans wanted, people were in revolt at the Walmart 4-inch reissues that ended up shelfwarming. So then the joe team rolled out the Haslab Skystriker and explicitly said if this does well, it will be the revival of O-ring and the Joe fandom spoke with their wallets. Its why the Pulse reissue line started and everyone has been happy with it. Plus knowing how to repair o-rings is almost a pre-requisit for collecting vintage joes. The joe fandom is just built different.
Not saying locking baroness behind hiss megs was the right call, I personally would have done the actual hiss driver, but I'm not hasbro corperate.
...dear god... wanting joints that'll break down over time...that's...so dumb...
Agreed that if they ever do a Thunderbirds transformer I’d probably buy it day one
Honestly same. I'm a simp for the Thunderbirds
Tank looks sweet at least
I wish instead of these being G1 characters with gi joe bits on
I wish these were true fusions of these charcters with the vehicle
Like What would megatron truley looknlike if he were a hiss tank
I would have preferred new characters instead. I'm always happy to see new characters added to the franchise. But that's a good option as well.
Loved this review, mate! It really hurts to see a novel concept go into such a deppressing road, especially when it's the case for series that even the company itself owns.
Hard to say what they even think of doing for collaborative projects, but I feel like they need to make a miracle for it to turn out good.
Also, I'm surprised to see you got some of Legacy Wave 3 now! Hope it's not too much of a bother, but was there any specific one you have handled that impressed you so far?
Minerva and crasher. Both are fantastic
I read somewhere that they got people who've never engineered Transformers to engineer this one.
FUCKIN SHOWS, DONT IT?!
Nah the engineering has some great stuff. I'm guessing it just had it's budget slashed.
@@DrLockdown So I'm guessing all the budget went to making it bigger. Not into articulation, meaningful engineering to avoid egregious partsforming , or avoid waffling...
Eyup
Good to see another vid from you, and it’s always fun to watch you dig into something even if I disagree. You can kind of blame the baroness figures build on a lot of big gi joe fans from what I’ve seen because they’ve been pushing for more o-ring figures, which was the original 80s build the 3 3/4 figures used. They actually had newer more advanced designs in their retro collection, like Star Wars with its vintage collection line. For Megatron, there really should have been more collaboration with the transformers team to get the best of both worlds if possible out of this figure.
I've heard conflicting stuff about that. Some commenters have said fans were pushing for the o rings, but my friends who are into GI Joe are saying nobody was asking for that.
Dunno what to think at this point
@@DrLockdown I put that together because I saw a lot of people asking for more o-rings on the hisstank forum but it might be different elsewhere, anyway great vid and I hope you’re doing well.
Actually since the the last comment we got apologists in the comments, so yeah it's a thing
It’s basically a really big deluxe.
The average deluxe has better articulation than this
you know a figure is good when it single-handedly manages to bury the dead horse that was ER-Cliffjumper AND force you to say something good about MS-Ragnar
Still dislike Ragnar more, but the hubris on this figure is way worse
@@DrLockdown yeah, Ragnar's shittiness is on a whole 'nother level, but the fact that this thing- this insult in plastic form, managed to get you to compliment Ragnar in any capacity at all is quite an achievement, tbh
I bought this (and it'll be here soon) despite the bad reviews. The face colouring and bland chest are the biggest problems. I do wish they'd fixed up the cannon, but I am sure someone will make a mod kit to help with that (and some other stuff to fix other ugly open areas). As for Baroness, I think you're a bit off in saying she links TF and GI Joe, because its the Hiss Tank itself that links it. The figure is just a reminent of a requirement to give an exclusive figure with a 'play toy' just like all (? I'd say most) the Joe vehicles beyond the cheapest price point one's (from the 80s). But the real problem is HASBRO generally. The pricing of TF is still less severe (and a lot more accessible) than the current GI Joe stuff, which has increased in price considerably. I watch some of the Joe fan channels and the sheer Hell they go through from Hasbro - from price increases, delays in distribution (we're talking 6+ months), announcements for things several waves ahead of what has been released. Also in the UK Hasbro would (starting shortly) only sell their Joe stuff from Hasbro Pulse... A thing the USA and the UK have. Where that leaves Aussie Joe fans long term, who knows... Possibly no Joe stuff because we are NOT allowed to buy stuff from Hasbro Pulse (nor will we ever get our own version to order from). Hasbro is making record profits and somehow is still imploding. Expect some serious missteps to happen with TF stuff before too long.
Glad I canceled my pre-order on this one... It's meant to be I'll get it nice and cheap and if not I won't lose any sleep..
It looks pretty close to like what the Hiss tank I had back in the 80's did, it's the robot mode that really kills this set and even my 80's Baroness had more paint and the glasses/eyes? Why'd they do that?! As far as the elastic waste, it's actually real easy to maintain and lasts quite a while. It's very much the 80's style build and has a wonderful screw making replacing the elastic super easy... usually
Far as Cliffjumper is concerned, you don't even have to take the back off, it has a place in robot mode and could have been left attached somehow but things like Ironhide's roof and this thing's back are ridiculous. They have no way of integrating with the robot other than to be a dumb looking shield...
11:36 bringing the legacy minerva figure into the review reminds me that I actually got the figure at a GameStop just yesterday which is weird because she was depicted as a Walgreens exclusive. but, there she was. fresh on a shelf at a GameStop. in Canada of all places.
Yeah apparently a lot of Walgreens stuff end up at GameStop in canada
huh... well I guess that's ok as long as we somewhat get those kinds of exclusives around here. speaking of which, my only experience with the collaboratives line is with the Draculas figure and its a lot of fun. the main reason that sold me on getting it in the first place was the price. at first I believe it was around $75CAD but I wouldn't get it because I didn't think it was justifiable for what is essentially a 5 year old deluxe remoulded and repainted to look like a 90 year old horror movie monster. then, later down the line, it ran for about $53CAD but I still wouldn't get it. but then, the day after thanksgiving, I saw 3 copies of the figure on shelf, at a toys r us at no less, for, I kid you not: $26.50. yeah as you can imagine, I snatched one up when I got the chance. thank god I waited otherwise I would've regretted my decision one not giving the patience. good timing too. I was hoping to get the figure for halloween so, hey! sweet timing toys r us!
Oh god. Can't get over how weird it feels to know that Walgreens exclusive Transformers are a thing. I've got a feeling that if Legacy does a new version of TFAnimated Ratchet. It will be Walgreens exclusive because well. They're a drug store.
@@GatorRay yeah I think its was like two days when I did get minerva is when I figured out that all the Walgreens exclusives that were released since siege were medical bots. (with the exception of siege red alert both regular and Netflix I think)
Walgreens seems to do all the ambulance colour exclusives (siege ratchet, kingdom red alert, legacy Minerva). The only exception is Earthrise, because bluestreak...isn't...
I have mixed feelings about this crossover.
As a Transformers fan it seems to commit so many sins but still appeals to me.
As a Joes fan I’m super excited because you can now have Megatron deploying Alley-Vipers and then supporting their advance!
I managed to pick it up on sale 90 AUD from gamesmen in Sydney so I’m actually more okay with it at that price point.😊
On a hilarious note, I’d hate to ride in the troop compartment at the back of that tank. Could you imagine six dudes sitting in there with Megatron’s complete upper torso as the back wall?!
Put in mini shockwave (yes both could work) at the turret you got the greatest shitpost
@@alexisislas-gonzalez5991 Now you have me wondering if Megs could wield legacy shockwave as a gun!
@@moosiefate Maybe if he became a combiner with some other Decepticons.
I’m kind of glad this figure isn’t getting released in the UK, outside of limited numbers on pulse
You've been spared a terrible curse...
I'm from Croatia, and being a Transformers fan there is...diffucult to say the least.
#1 The prices- 1 US dollar is 7.5/8 kunas, which is a lot. These days, your retail Deluxe costs 250 kunas, and a year or so ago, they cost 150/200 kunas. Voyagers are now almost 300 kunas and before they were 250.
If US dollars and kunas were 1:1 pricewise, a regular voyager would cost 280/300 US dollars. Yikes.
#2- Distribution- For me, there are 3 ways I get Tf figures, going to a shop which has barely any new waves of figures, going to online shops which overprice their products a lot and buying second-hand figures from older lines (tf movies, unicron trilogy etc.)
Yeah sounds very similar to my mate over there.
I think it says all that needs to be said about this figure that the thing I'm bringing away from the video is the word "dollarydoos." I'll be adopting that like I did "No worries."
Lol. It's an Aussie thing.
Dollarydoos for Australian dollars, freedom bucks for American.
As both a fan of TF And G.I. Joe, these collaborative figures should have been a dream come true. A transforming HISS tank that actually scales and works with Joe figures? Hell yeah, that sounds awesome!
...and then you look at the final product and go "...oh."
As someone getting into collecting GI Joe with my dad, I HATE Hasbro's switch from their original updates to the 3.75 inch figures to straight remakes of the original figures. Those figures were okay for the time, but they're absolutely inferior to the updated versions they were making, both in articulation and look, with the new ones completely revamping the sculpting and paint. The new versions still have their issues and limitations, and they're also very inconsistent with what articulation is included in each figure, but they are still way better than what my dad had in the 80s. I want to add onto our small collection of these great-looking figures, but I can't now, cuz everything new Hasbro's coming out with for Retro Joe releases are recreating the original figures, which just do not mix with the newer aesthetics of the updated figures. I have this Megatron figure now, and I and my dad will not open Baroness, she looks better in-box than she would mixed in with the rest of our figures. Swapping her out for the updated HISS Driver from the HISS Tank reissue from last year improves his compatibility with figures of this size. He just looks cool with the bright red driver manning the guns on his back. And speaking of the HISS reissue, that's the other reason I kinda love this figure despite his flaws, as he's meant to look almost near-indistinguishable from an original HISS Tank. So not only does he scale with Joe figures, but he provides another HISS Tank for the collection. This, of course, does not excuse the multiple flaws of it. It is way overpriced for what it is, and apparently the reason it's as bad as it is is that the Transformers team had no involvement with its development. It is only a collaboration in what properties it combines, when it should've been an actual collaboration between both dev teams. The fact we can get stuff as solid as SS-86 Grimlock or the other Dinobots, for $30-$40 under the price of this, shows how different this could've been had they actually gotten the current Transformers team involved in this.
Oh, also, I think it's clear these collaborative figures don't have nearly as much development time as actual main-line Transformers figures. I think just extending how long the design team has to make these figures could help a lot, though maybe they can't do that cuz they only have the license to those properties for a limited time. As you mentioned, though, this doesn't apply at all to the GI Joe collaboration, this could've been something that took them a few years to work on, but instead it was probably less than that, and that's made even worse with the exclusion of anyone actually working on current Transformers stuff. There may be an excuse for other collaborative figures to be bad, but there really doesn't seem to be any good excuse for this.
I fucking gasped when you revealed the partsforming
Yeah other commenters claim other youtubers gloss over it...
...gotta ask..how...
Is not suppose to be a copi of the baroness from the 80's toy line is not a copi it is the original baroness figure from the 80's
There are differences when you place them side by side. It's not 1:1.
Congrats to Cliffjumper on his retirement!!
He'll probably go on a cruise or something :p
@@DrLockdown he earned this one
Lotta work being a running gag
Usually I watched your videos to get an alternate perspective on figures since I tend to be a bit too nice to them, but after watching this video, yeah this thing deserved everything you gave it. There's just nothing excusable for something like this at the price point it has anywhere in the world, and as someone who liked Cliffjumper well enough that I was able to look over the bad partsforming, yeah I have no excuse for it on this figure, this is just BAD, I think I gasped when I first saw it in the video too.
Yeah apparently many people haven't even picked up on it, because youtubers don't mention it often...even when it's this figure's defining feature...
the hbomberguy reference lmao
I love the video keep up the good work
Thanks mate
The tanks headlights look like they were stolen from a monte Carlo or a delorean
Makes me want to use said Delorean to time travel and tell Hasbro to make better figures
I love this design so so much but the mass amount of hollow spaces, especially the hollow arms, drag it down and with the parts forming and the partner minifig make it impossible for to justify buying it
Also this figure was done by the GI design team NOT the transformers design team.
I've heard a few comments saying that, and I'll have to look into it.
Doesn't excuse any of the issues though
To be honest I was kinda hooked in on the novelty of it being an actual GI Joe crossover thing...
But I cancelled my order after seeing this video because I havent seen many other reviews bring up the budget not matching the quality. Maybe all of it went to making that box look super radical, I guess!
Great video though. Had my doubts about Megs and this more or less confirms it. Funnily enough I only cared about keeping it in tank mode and messing with Baroness but with the price being brought up a lot it made me reconsider a lot.
Glad I could help. I'm sure there will be other hiss tanks on the market at cheaper prices, provided you don't care about scale.
And even then, it's a fan favourite vehicle. They'll do another, minus the transformer part
@@DrLockdown Haha yeah, there'll definitely be more. I probably could've gone for the Haslab one, since this just kinda fumbles the ball as both a GI Joe vehicle and a Transformer.
Thanks again for the review!
13:03 it’s even more embarrassing that they didn’t make it pop down and cover the rest of his chest. Literally -IQ play.
It could've swivelled over to the sides with the hip skirts, but apparently that was too much effort
I don't care about GI JOE but the Soundwave collab is my favorite Soundwave. I even like the Bumblebee. Never bothered with the Megatron HISS tank because he looks like crap from 100 miles away lol.
The ONLY Collaborative figures I have and like are Ectotron and Gigawatt. Gigawatt because he's good and Ectotron because you're totally wrong about that figure. I MIGHT consider that Maverick figure if he didn't look like he was cast out of wax or if they fixed his issues and did a Go-Bots homage to Leader-1 out of him but that aside, the rest blew chunks and I could see that easily. Sorry you got this figure but I'm not sorry as this review is the result and it was hilarious. Thank you!
Hahah, hello TJ X'D
I think the general issue is that Hasbro has something of a habit of making the GI Joe cross-overs the same way a lot of the old GI Joe toys were - flimsy as hell, and hollow EVERYWHERE. No idea why. Hasbro, we were NOT nostalgic for the fact that GI Joe toys can break with only the slightest bit of pressure! I should know, I owned the Action Force (yes, that's what they were called here in the UK) Mobile Command Centre, and holy hell does that thing break if you so much as sneeze on it. It's like it's made of tissue paper.
It would be like LEGO making new versions of the OG Hero Factory team toys. All the way down to using the same way to easy to break socket system from Bionicle that was used for WAY TO LONG!
@@GatorRay Oh, don't remind me. I broke so many of those! Those socket joints were WAY too thin >.
@@Tazer_Silverscar Agreed
Tecnically yes sound wawe as been made a version that become this tank but not in reality it appened in the transformers heartwars videogame
i love ectotron
he’s just
aaaaaa i love him
Personally never liked mine. Ended up selling him off.
In hindsight though, he was was better than what was to come
Thr back of the vehicle mode could have rotated around and had the head fold out of there to form the chrst
It could've done anything. They just chose not to bother
Dr. Lockdown tore a green screen for this video you better be grateful.
Actually just a white sheet of wrapping paper. There's an AI green screen application that turns anything into a green screen asset. It's called runway. Super useful
Imagine being so bad, that cliffjumper is the better of two choices
Cliffjumper also doesn't cost the price of a commander
23:15 that got me rolling 🤣
Lol. Thank hbomberguy for the reference
@@DrLockdown Kudos to him. I've heard of breaking the forth wall. But THAT. Is on a whole other level.
I'm sure it's been said... this is a reissue of the 80s Baroness. The Tank is actually very close to the original. Megatron is well.... yeah
It's not. I've compared the two and it's slightly different, and several comments have pointed out the original has been lost anyway. They had to make a new mould from the ground up, and they could've put better hardware into the joints easily.
From what I understand, as from what the That Toy Guy said, this figure was made by the G.I.Joe team and not the regular transformers engineers
I keep hearing that. It's something I need to research, because I'm not seeing much definitive proof
This is the first time I’ve heard a figure being called underpriced
Well it's not given the budget it needs. Sized out of its price bracket might be more accurate
KABOOM! So the pegs on the back of the Hiss tank are foot pegs to stick figures on the back like in the box art, comic, and even show. The Baroness is also a reissue from the 80s because 40th anniversary ressons. Also, modern joes don't use O rings because in the late '90s/ early 2000's they brought it back. But, they were so low quality and they were also glued together so nobody could even replace them if they did snap. So, after a lot of backlashes, they changed and now use ball joints and hinges.
It's not actually the original baroness mould. It's a recreation from the ground up. They could've fixed the issues, but chose not to.
@@DrLockdown That's a shame. It would have been better if they used the Retro Collection Baroness mold since it uses the modern articulated mold of her. Also, it's super rare I only got through shire luck at Power con 2021. Fun fact the Retro collection Cobra Trooper mold is by far the most articulated figure mold in the entire line.
Some commenters here say the mould was lost. Dunno about the validity of that, but either way using an O ring on a modern designed figure is super dumb
@@DrLockdown Do agree that O rings are a meh concept these days and yes a lot of GI joe moulds were lost to time including the Baroness.
Yeah, as I said in other comments, it's like remaking g1 mirage and keeping the brittle waist assembly
The baroness is a ode to the vintage figure. That’s why it’s so bad.
5:15 I'd just call it an anti-slip or non-slip surface.
If you haven't completely written off Australian retail, you might be interested to know JB Hi-Fi has Transformers toys. I was surprised to find a Legacy Elita-1 at my local store after the usual department and toy stores turned up blank.
Yes...I mention JB hi fi in the video.
It's getting better, but so was EB two years ago, before they went to shit again.
I'll believe this is a change for the better when I see long term consistency.
@@DrLockdown So you did. Sorry, I wanted to answer your anti-slip question but should have waited to the end before posting.
Ah yeah fair enough :D
Baroness (#Hillary), Bill wouldn't even go near that one. 🤣
Honestly, you could have just made the whole review you screaming with subtitles
Would have gotten the point across, plus it would have been more cathartic!
The GI Joe situation is a weird one to me. In the fiction, the combination of the two franchises has proven exciting or at least cause for intrigue, especially in recent years in the comics and movies. The toys… have consistently had issues it would seem, though I haven’t heard anything about GI Joe Bumblebee.
Frankly, I think Hasbro probably should’ve plugged transformers into GI Joe as life support years ago. They’re a good blend in the right hands