McDonald’s Changeables are back, and they are bigger and sturdier than the crew expected. The More Than Meets the Eye Collection’s One Shall Stand Optimus Prime sold out in minutes, and Brian loves it as a stand-in for Dark Awakening Optimus. The crew also sizes up Blokees Wheels Series 2, Yolopark’s Optimus Primal and Dinobot test shots, MPG-17 Style-Gen Optimus Prime and Timelines Age of Samurai. Guest Miguel fills in for Chris, and in What We Got This Week, Don lands the 40th anniversary Lio Convoy.
News
McDonald’s Brings Back the Changeables Happy Meal Toys
McDonald’s Changeables are back in Happy Meals. The crew expected BotBots-sized toys, and the engineering is similar. They are much larger, though, closer to the original 1980s Changeables, with hard plastic and good quality. Brian came away with two of the dinosaur-and-box Changeables. One host got CatCat, the McDonald’s cat with a drive-thru headset. It is hollow underneath, so it fits on a deluxe figure like a hat. [Source: Quartz]
Shareholders filed suit against Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks and other board members over alleged mismanagement of Magic: The Gathering. One host recalls a 2023 class action claiming Hasbro misrepresented its inventory, though that suit targeted Hasbro rather than Cocks. Brian notes the case doesn’t directly touch Transformers. Depending on the outcome, though, it could have a big impact on both Hasbro and Transformers. [Source: IGN]
More Than Meets the Eye Collection One Shall Stand Optimus Prime and One Shall Fall Megatron
Brian calls this the week’s biggest Transformers conversation, with fans either lukewarm or in love. He is skipping Megatron. One Shall Stand Optimus Prime isn’t a perfect Transformers: The Movie match, but it is very close to the Dark Awakening model, which is what he wanted. Matt points out it matches Optimus Prime’s battered look at the start of Dark Awakening. Preorders went live a few minutes late, and Matt and Diecast both lost Optimus at checkout. One host thinks the battle damage deco should cover the whole figure, not just the torso and one shoulder. Megatron’s tampos don’t fully line up with his molded damage. His legs are standard gray, not the blue-gray of the battle-damaged Megatron, though one host says they swap on mushroom pegs. Fans online are mocking the pegged-in shiv, but one host points to a TFW2005 screenshot showing matching grill damage in Dark Awakening. Per JT Prime, an all-gray sleep mode version is coming. [Source: TFW2005]
Blokees Wheels Series 2 Wreck ‘N’ Rule First Look
Brian didn’t love Series 2 as much as the first wave until the crew identified the lineup. The jet is half of Overlord, not Brainstorm, joined by Iron Fist, Breakdown and Roadbuster. That makes it a Wreckers theme, with Iron Fist looking straight out of IDW’s Last Stand of the Wreckers. One host likes the mix of well-known designs and deeper pulls. [Source: TFW2005]
Yolopark AMK Series Optimus Primal and Dinobot Color Test Shots
The crew notes that Yolopark kits are basically action figures with a final assembly step, while Blokees are closer to true model kits. One host mistook a Yolopark Megatron for Studio Series 86 until he looked closely. Yolopark’s teased Computron and Defensor combiners caught Don’s eye, and the crew guesses they will match AMK Mini scale. One host loves that the Dinobot simply recreates the CG model. The crew dreams of repaints like a Bruticus that becomes Battle Gaia, and of G2 Defensor. [Source: TFW2005]
MPG-17 Style-Gen Optimus Prime In-Hand Photos
Brian nearly canceled his preorder but is keeping it, since he’ll never look at the rough back of the truck mode. One host thinks the plastic finish looks more Generations than Masterpiece, possibly from unpainted molded color. Chris weighs in from Discord that heavy photo processing makes it look drab. One host sees little reason to own it beside Earthrise Optimus Prime, apart from the excellent head sculpt. Another sees it as a fusion of MP-10 and MP-44 and a fresh Masterpiece starting point, with a Hot Rod also coming. It stands about half a head taller than MP-10 or MP-44, so their trailers should work with it. [Source: TFW2005]
Transformers Timelines Age of Samurai Optimus Prime and Starscream In-Hand Images
Don watched a transformation video and loves how Optimus Prime turns an ox and cart into a cab-and-trailer motif. He finds Starscream far less exciting. Another host loves the set but may wait for a price drop. He wishes the figures had simply been named Optimus Prime and Starscream. One host only just realized an ox and cart is a medieval truck and trailer, and now wants them. Others note the figures are tiny. [Source: TFW2005]
Don argues that after more than four years, Hasbro Pulse still glitches whenever a big preorder goes live. The crew points out he has renewed Pulse Premium since its launch, so Hasbro has little reason to fix it. Don says the membership still pays for itself through early access and free HasLab shipping.
What We Got This Week
Brian
Brian’s only new Transformers were his McDonald’s Changeables. He also picked up a couple of Blokees boxes from Walmart, even though he already has the full case, and hopes to pull Dinobots.
Diecast
Diecast got a McDonald’s Changeable.
Don
Don got the 40th anniversary Lio Convoy for about $40 and is keeping it in the box. He thinks it looks much better than the Hasbro version and matches how he remembers the original. He has also ordered about 40 Blokees from Walmart and received 12 so far.
Matt
Matt had nothing in Transformers this week.
Miguel
Miguel added more e-Hobby acrylic logo display stands, including the Predacon, Maximal and G2 Autobot and Decepticon symbols. He also bought the Toys “R” Us Magna Convoy DX gift set from Transformers: Micron Legend. It features Optimus Prime in Powerlinx colors and a clear Overload. The Optimus Prime cab arrived coated in a mysterious brown film.
John
Snow kept deliveries away, so John had no new arrivals.
Rob
Rob found an off-brand $10 transforming robot on Amazon that turns into a World War II-era transport truck. It has misfired pins, stress marks and weak arms, but solid legs and a clever way of folding the truck bed’s wooden slats into the legs. Another host owns the same toy and mentions a German staff car and a tank in the same line.