Here’s a bunch more pictures from the Transformers Classics line, plus some others for comparison sake. These should have hit most stores all over the US and Canada by now, though my fellow Canadians will probably have better luck at Toys R Us than anywhere else.

Classics Rodimus is joined here by Cybertron Blurr, who fits in really well with the classics aesthetic. In front we have Energon Arcee and Cybertron Breakdown GTS, who being the crazy old man character and getting a new blue colour scheme is an obvious homage to Kup. Come on Hasbro, make us a new version of Springer so we can round out the ’86 movie cast.

This is Classics Starscream standing in between his Armada and Cybertron counterparts. Why Cybertron Starscream was never released at that size in his proper colours, I do not know, but I digress. Both of those toys are much larger than the Classics version in the middle, seeing as they are at a higher price point, but still, as nice as the Classic version is, it would have even better if it were at least a little bit taller in robot mode. It does pretty much look exactly like the original Starscream though, even though it transforms completely differently.

Notice a theme here? I think this is a cool picture, if perhaps a bit obsessive. You can’t really blame Hasbro for using and reusing this same colour scheme again and again. It works. From left to right we have Cybertron Excillion, Energon Rodimus, Classics Rodimus, Armada Powerlinx Hot Shot, and Robots in Disguise Super SideBurn.

And here they are in robot mode. Again, it seems like the new Classics line suffers a little when it comes to size when compared to other recent Transformers lines. I guess it’s supposed to make up for it in complexity, because the Transformations are a bit more involved than they typically have been (with the exception of SideBurn on the right, who takes a bloody engineering degree to change back and forth). I typically don’t care much about complexity as long as the robot mode looks cool, but I do appreciate a good transforming robot when I get one.

Also new is this “Ultimate Battle” 2-pack including a very Generation 1 inspired Optimus Prime, a somewhat Generation 2 inspired Megatron, and a DVD. Optimus really sucks in his truck mode, and has this floppy spinning punch gimmick in robot mode, but I like him better than everyone else seems to. He’s got this gangster-looking tommy gun, which is awesome. Megatron is pretty cool, and is the better toy of the 2 despite having a spinning weapon instead of a hand on one arm. The DVD is sort of a recap of the previous 3 Transformers anime series, with narration by Gary Chalk explaining the origins of the Transformers and the battle between Autobots and Decepticons. I thought it was pretty fun and it serves as a great introduction to Transformers for kids. I recommend the set more as a gift for a young fan than as something the older collector would enjoy, but so what? Buy it anyway.

Sayonara.