Hello there, welcome back, yeah I know, I have not published anything in awhile and for that I am sorry, but life has a way of keeping you busy in other areas sometimes. So the Powers of the Primes toy line wave one is just hitting US stores, If you have not heard of it, I will fill you in on what this line is all about.

• Prime Masters: In the vain of Head / Target / Power Master gimmicks from 1987-88 and Titan Masters from Titans Return of 2016 but different
• Decoy Armor: Which is a reuse of the Pretender gimmick of 1988 but slightly different and smaller, Prime masters use these.
• Combiners: like the Combiner Wars combining gimmick from 2017 is a return of the scramble city combiner gimmick from 1986 (also of note the hands and feet have changed Voyagers are packed with both feet while each deluxe comes with a hand) here is an image of one of the combiner feet, it has a swivel to better pose your combiner and a cockpit for a prime master.

• Evolution: A figure is upgraded using it’s trailer as armor add-ons which is return to Ultra Magnus or Powermaster Optimus Prime.

(noting that both 1988’s Powermasters and Pretenders are in this line and it is PoP after all strikes me as funny)

First of all I want to touch on the Combiners in this set. The Deluxe class figures can be either a leg or an arm and in turn the Voyager class figures become torsos for any of the Power of the Primes / Combiner Wars  / Unite Warriors combiners. Two confirmed teams have been presented, first is the long awaited Dinobots joining the combiner ranks along side the second team of Terrorcons. Several members of unknown teams have been showed or leaked including what looks like a Fembot team and maybe a Jet team. Will they come out with more teams? or leave these guys without a team? anything is possible and there can be a lot more to come while we wait. I have added some speculation on what rumored toys could come out, if they do or do not that is up to Hasbro.

(P.S. I take no credit in the photos I use, I found them online and use them to showcase the transformers that are coming out)

Dinobots

•  Grimlock – Voyager class – torso – New Mold: Like the rest of his Dinobot team mates this guy has clear plastic parts that have gold paint in the inside to give them a very G1 look. His dino head is very G1 cartoon like. (Me Grimlock no torso, me Grimlock King!!)

• Slug – Deluxe class – a limb – New Mold: A decent G1 styled toy (yes there is a name change due to slag being a British slur, I do not like it either but what can you do?)

• Sludge – Deluxe class – a limb – New Mold: Old long neck is back and I like him! He has only been released as a toy twice before this (but the second version almost does not count since he was named Slog for unknown reasons, maybe license issues, he also did not make it into G2.)

• Snarl – Deluxe class – a limb – New Mold: Very G1 like again, he is nice! (seems to be one of the more popular dinobots, he has had a few incarnations over the years)

• Swoop – Deluxe class – a limb – New Mold: I have seen two versions of him out there,  one is G1 toy accurate with a red torso (below) and the other seems to be G1 cartoon accurate with a blue torso that was seen in the display case at HasCon 2017 (Hasbro’s own convention for all their lines of toys) Not sure which version will hit stores at this point. Swoop has also been popular but sometimes they have renamed him Strafe or Ptero (again for unknown reasons)

• Volcanicus – Combined form: I am not all that happy with the combined form so I will be getting the Dinobots to keep in their separate modes.  (there are not many good photos out there of him yet)

Terrorcons

• Hun-Gurr – Voyager class – Torso – retooled existing mold:: The leader of the Terrorcons, they become his limbs in his combined form of Abominus is an update of the character of the same name from 1987 (but sadly no photos of Abominus have been shown yet or I cannot find them)

• Rippersnapper – Deluxe class – a limb – New Mold: some kind of land shark monster thingie, (this is the third toy for him but unlike Sludge and others he retained his name on the second release.)

• Blot – Deluxe class – a limb – New Mold: some kind robotic ogre thing similar to his G1 counterpart.  (this is the second toy for poor Blot, he was replaced in beasthunters by Blight a homage to Blot but he is a separate character.) 

• Cutthroat – Deluxe class – a limb – New Mold: Some kind of hawk like thing.  (much like Sludge and others he has had only three releases and his second release was under a different name Windrazor again for unknown reasons maybe due to licensing issues)

• Sinnertwin – Deluxe class – a limb – New Mold: The second two headed creature in the Terrorcons (and like others he also had only three releases with the second being named Twinstrike)

Decepticon Combiners

• Starscream – Voyager class – Torso – possible retooled existing or new mold: We have little information on who the combiner is yet (although he is being referred to as King Starscream) but it is clear he is a torso, there are two deluxe jets that could be limbs.(speculation is that we will see Thundercracker and Skywarp) also a leaked image shows a crown for the combiner mode. (he looks good although the beefy hollow forearms kind of look strange not to mention those guns…)

It was thought he would be a new mold but it now appears he is a heavily retooled Cyclonus due to his crowned head resembles the head of the combined form Galvatronus

• Dreadwind – Deluxe class – a limb – retooled existing mold: a heavy retool of Combiner Wars Skydive. This character was from the powermaster group in 1988 and like his counterpart can combine with his partner Blackwing. (I am very happy to see these two and I hope two more jets are coming to fill Starscream’s team to make you scream or is that just a dream?)

• Blackwing – Deluxe class – a limb – retooled existing mold: Like his partner above he is also a heavy retool of Combiner Wars figure but this time Skydive. (not sure why they changed his name but like so many others, it could be due to trademark licensing problems)

Other jets that are possible but are only speculation at this time: Skywarp and Thundercracker.

Autobot Combiners

• Jazz – Deluxe class – a limb – New Mold: One of several that did not make it into Combiner Wars

• Inferno – Voyager class – a torso – retooled existing mold: No Picture yet! (the mold is a retool of Hotspot)
• Other G1 vehicles that are possible but are only speculation at this time: Sideswipe, Ratchet and Bluestreak. 

Fembots

It looks like we will get a female combiner figure if the last two here are real and not speculation, Arcee and Nautica just had 2017 releases so do not wish too hard for them. Also not a combiner but the first one is a legend class Dinobot Fembot.

• Slash – Legend class – not part of the combiner – New Mold: They dropped the ball with her, she is not part of a combiner team as she should be. (She is the first fembot Dinobot to get a toy and a very nice looking one at that.)

• Alita-1 – Voyager class – a torso – Uncertain mold, possibly reused from Starscream:  No Picture yet!
• Moonracer – Deluxe class – a limb – New Mold: Grey scale Picture only for now!

• Novastar – Deluxe class – a limb – New Mold:  No Picture yet! (I take it this is Firestar but like many name changes is possibly due to copyright issues)

Other Fembots that are possible but are only speculation at this time: Chromia, Lancer, and Greenlight.

Prime Masters

So basically Prime Masters are like Titan masters, they can store inside or plug into decoy armor modeled after pretenders from 1998,  ride in Legend class vehicles, fit into weapons for other figures or replace a Leader’s Matrix core. They also the same size of Titan master heads and each can replace the either, (talk about busy huh?,) Also they have hinted there will be 13 of these guys, each modeled after one of the 13 primes, So far we have only seen a few. 

• Skullgrin’s outer shell hides Liege Maximo who was a character from the G2 comic line. (not crazy about the face, but as you will see others have it worse)

• Micronus Prime fits into Cloudburst’s outer shell. 

• Vector Prime hides in the outershell of Metalhawk who was a Japanese exclusive pretender. (and the only one to have die-cast metal parts)

• Alchemist Prime with outershell  Submarauder

• Landmine’s outershell is Yellow but his partner Alpha Trion should be Purple and not Yellow, but his 9 diamonds are purple… 

• Bludgeon shell contains Quintos Prime – No Picture (I want this one!!!)
• Bomb-burst shell with Megatronis – No Picture
• Octopunch shell and Solus Prime – No Picture

Other Pretenders that are possible but are only speculation at this time: Waverider, Bomb-Burst, Groundbreaker, Sky High, Splashdown, Bugly, Finback, Iguanus

Legends Class

Not many have been announced yet but as with all lines, Legend Class figures are a cheap price point so we normally get a few of them.

• Beachcomber: basically the fifth release of this guy, and he is very G1 (a G2 version repaint is possible but only speculation)

• Windcharger: Another one who has had very few versions over the years (leaving the door open for a possible retooling as Tailgate) 

Skrapnel: this is a straight reissue from the Trilling 30 line (minus the reflector mini-con), no retooling, means he cannot interact with Prime masters the same as the others. (kind of sad they had to put in a filler figure instead of doing a remold retool for some of the other deluxe Insecticons we want to see come out)

Outback: A retool of Titan returns Brawn SPECULATION based on a leaked image ONLY!!

Other possible but speculated ones are 

• Venom – if true it would have to be an all new mold
• Barrage – possible retool of Bombshell
• Ransack – possible retool or just a repaint of Kickback

Leader Class

The Leader Class provides a revamped Power Armor Gimmick called Evolution (similar to G1 Ultra Magnus from 1986 or the Powermaster Optimus Prime from 1988) A deluxe class represents an earlier point in the character’s life add armor and he comes an evolved character. So far all but one are new molds with one a repaint of one of them. (No Megatron yet… )

• Rodimus Prime is evolved from Hot Rod: This is one of the no brainers, fans have wanted a Rodimus Prime with a trailer other than Takara’s Masterpiece (american releases did not get the trailer) and Hasbro’s Titanium release that does not have a detachable trailer, the only other option is getting a 3rd party Fansproject Protector trailer to add onto the Classics Hot Rod of 2008, but we got it coming now! History: come on really? do you need to this? alright Hot Rod becomes Rodimus Prime after the death of Optimus Prime.

• Rodimus Unicronus is evolved from Nemesis Hot Rod: This is clearly an excuse to reuse a mold for the lacking Decepticons in this class. (He gets a new Head for the larger figure, dig that crazy macho-man beard… OH Yeah!!) History: Evil nemesis versions of Optimus and Rodimus have been around for years, this color scheme is based on the Shattered Glass Rodimus Prime and the beard is a tip of the hat to Mirror Universe Spock,

• Optimus Prime is evolved from Orion Pax: Another collector’s dream come true. (I wonder if an Ultra Magnus is on the horizon) History: Orion Pax was the name Optimus Prime had prior to being given the matrix

• Optimal Optimus evolves from Optimus Primal: We have seen some grey scale mockups, it appears that his armor turns into a hoverboard (a few of his figures have had one in the past) He was the winner of the pick the next Prime fan poll. History: Optimus Primal put Opimus Prime’s spark into his body to protect it and thus becoming Optimal Optimus (yes there is a separate Primal Prime character that uses a retool of Optimal Optimus… so maybe a new figure for him is possible too)

The other choices were:

Titan Class

• Predaking – other than a few blurry photos nothing really good can be found yet. (I thought it would be similar to Devastator with 6 Voyagers but no there is only 5 Voyagers) Fans have wanted a return to this guy, like the Dinobots, 3rd party companies have created their versions of PK and now Hasbro finally is bringing it out. (this is the fourth Titan Class figure and the third of those to be a Decepticon, makes you wonder if we will see more Titan Class Autobots)