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Transformers Purchased in January 2013

January 31st, 2013 7 comments

The first month of the new year is already over. So far in 2013 it feels like I did nothing but work. Not really a good way to start the year, but it could be worse. My start to 2012 was really crappy, for personal reasons that I won’t mention here. So I guess, in a way, anything’s better. Uneventful, but better. Sometimes no news is good news.

But let’s now get to what’s really important: my TFs for the month. There were a total of 10 purchases this month. This is drastically different from how 2012 started, where I only found 1 TF worth buying for the entire month (PCC Heavytread). So here’s another way that 2013 is off to a better start!

  • Fall of Cybertron Ultra Magnus, Toys R Us, $15.99

  • PCC Steelshot, Toys R Us, $9.99

  • Masterpiece Red Alert, amiami.com, about $57 shipped

  • Fall of Cybertron Soundblaster with Buzzsaw, Toys R Us, $11.99

  • Fall of Cybertron Sideswipe, amazon.com, $14.99

  • TF Prime Beast Hunters Wheeljack, Toys R Us, $4.99
  • TF Prime Beast Hunters Lazerback, Toys R Us, $15.99
  • TF Prime Beast Hunters Soundwave with Ravage, Toys R Us, $15.99

FOC Kickback and Air Raid

  • Fall of Cybertron Kickback, amazon.com, $14.99
  • Fall of Cybertron Air Raid, amazon.com, $14.99

That is a total of 10 purchases for 12 figures. 1 Masterpiece, 1 PCC, 6 Generations FOC, and 4 TF Prime. Not bad for a full month.

I gave MP Red Alert a quick review. Check that post for my thoughts on the figure. Or better yet, just buy it now. I’ll just mention here real quick that I think I got an awesome price for the figure.

For the Generations FOC figures, I opened Ultra Magnus, Sideswipe, and Soundblaster. Ultra Magnus is cool, with a new head mold. The colors on this figure are undoubtedly Ultra Magnus. Actually, I think I like this mold better as Ultra Magnus. I like the Prime figure too, but I think War for Cybertron Optimus is better. And I always felt that Magnus got gypped throughout TF history by being the Prime repaint. So in this TF Universe I like to use the WFC figure as Prime, and have Magnus use this new mold. Sideswipe is cool too. For the longest time I didn’t even know this is a repaint of the Jazz figure. Sideswipe still has all the same weaknesses that I mentioned for the Jazz mold, which are the long arms and the hole in the chest. But for some reason, the arms don’t look as long on Sideswipe. The chest cavity is still an issue though.

Soundblaster is basically just a darker version of Soundwave of the same mold. Both colors have their charm, so I can’t decide which one I like better. Buzzsaw is a straight up repaint of Laserbeak. The two toys are identical in every way other than the colors. However, on my figure, it does seem like the launching mechanism of Soundblaster is a bit better than Soundwave. I only tried Soundblaster ejecting Buzzsaw, but that works well every time. I should try Soundblaster with other discs and see how well that fares. The $11.99 price tag is because I had $11 worth of Toys R Us dollars, he’s usually $22.99 there.

You may wonder why I’m buying a PCC in 2013. They weren’t even all that cool back in 2010 and 2011, when they were released. I’m buying them now because of these Mobine Missile Launcher Sets made by MakeToys. I think they look really cool, and I will probably buy this jungle set to use with my PCCs. Maybe get the marine type too. Anyway, I got Steelshot because this mold is featured in one of the pics for the set. I’m positive I could have got this figure last year for $5 at Ross, so I am kicking myself a little for paying full price now. Still, PCCs have gone way up if you believe Amazon prices. So I think I’m still lucky to find one at MSRP. Steelshot is an ok figure. Not the best figure by PCC standards, but not the worst either.

The only TF Prime Beast Hunter figure I opened so far is Wheeljack. He’s just a slight remold of the first deluxe Wheeljack figure. I like the weapon on the new figure, but if you already have the first Wheeljack then you will want to consider if you like this figure enough to get something so similar. Again, the $4.99 price is because of some more Toys R Us dollars. The other 2 Beast Hunter figures I will open later.

Air Raid and Kickback arrived from amazon just this evening. I barely had time to take these pics. I’m sure I’ll like Air Raid since I found the Shockwave mold so impressive. I had no idea he would be Air Raid though. When I first saw the figure back in this post, I thought he would make a better Strafe. The jet looks high-tech, and the head mold more resembles Strafe. As Fireflight he fits too, I guess. And on amazon he’s also listed as Fireflight. Now I have the package in hand, I see they made him Air Raid. I still say this head mold is a better fit for Strafe. I bet a customizer out there is already making him Strafe. Kickback looks cool. I love the Insecticons. I’m looking forward to opening this figure. Oh yeah, amazon listed this figure simply as Insecticon. They can’t get any of these names right.

So that’s it, my TFs in January of 2013. I also made a whole bunch of pre-orders this month for 3rd party items, but that will be for another time, when they arrive. Until then… Transform and Roll Out!

Categories: On The Hunt, Pics

Masterpiece MP-17 Prowl and MP-18 Smokescreen!

January 27th, 2013 7 comments

This is so good it’s illegal to not share and post! The next two Autobot Masterpiece figures are Prowl and Smokescreen, MP-17 and MP-18 respectively. I was thoroughly impressed with Sideswipe and Red Alert. And immediately I wanted more MPs of the Autobot cars. That dream is coming true is summer! June 2013 to be precise. Let’s hope that release date does not change. Or better yet, get pushed ahead of schedule!

For full details, click on the banner above. Unfortunately, there are no pics at this time. Hopefully some will surface soon.

Transform and Roll Out!

Categories: TF News

Generations GDO Megatron with Blood the Dark Warrior Upgrade Kit

January 22nd, 2013 2 comments

There are plenty of third party accessories out there that are designed to enhance Hasbro and Takara products. I haven’t had the opportunity to buy too many of these (something I’m looking to rectify), but one of the few that I did get is the Blood the Dark Warrior Upgrade Kit by Headrobots. This kit obviously is designed to work with ROTF Voyager Bludgeon (a very nice figure BTW). I bought the kit back in October of 2011, and to this day I still have not tried it with Bludgeon. Anyway, here’s how the kit looks in the package.

About a year after that purchase, I got Generations GDO Megatron. This is a repaint of that Bludgeon mold, but with a new head for Megatron. This figure is obviously a homage to G2 Megatron. Here are some pics of this Megatron in the box.

Anyway, I opened this figure pretty soon after I got it. And out of the box my first complaint is the rubbery look of those purple swords. That did not work for me at all. A badass like Megatron cannot be holding swords that look like they were made out of play dough. See the pic for yourself.

And so I remembered I still have the Bludgeon upgrade kit that I never tried. I’m gonna try it on Megatron since I have him handy.

Much better! There seems to be several figures that interpret Megatron as a samurai, like this figure and the Alternity Megatron. Having silver swords that aren’t bent goes a long way to help Megatron look like the kickass dictator that he is.

Now let’s see how this would look in alt mode.

In both pics above, we only see the gun piece attached at the end of the cannon. The long sword is hidden inside the barrel, with the gun piece fitted over the sword handle. The short sword is completely concealed inside the turret where it usually goes. The pic below help illustrates this.

The pic below shows that you can attach the gun piece to the side of the mini purple gun on the turret. This is where you would place the gun piece in robot mode, which ends up being on Megatron’s back.

All in all, I think using this upgrade kit for Megatron is quite cool. The green doesn’t match, but the way it sticks out doesn’t seem so bad. Having straight shiny silver swords is way better than the purple crap that Hasbro saw fit to use.

Transform and Roll Out!

Categories: Pics, Toy Reviews

Masterpiece Red Alert Quick Review

January 14th, 2013 4 comments

Masterpiece Red Alert (MP-14) arrived this week. This is the first Masterpiece figure to arrive for me in 2013. I bought the fig very late in 2012, and I used SAL unregistered shipping so Red Alert did not show up til a few days ago. It was worth the wait though. Red Alert was only about $58 shipped and he arrived just fine. Some people complain that the shipping box gets dinged with SAL unregistered, but in this case I got the shipping box in pristine condition. Anyway, I got him in hand now and he’s every bit as impressive as MP Sideswipe. I have mentioned how impressed I am with Sideswipe here and here, and mechanically Red Alert is exactly the same so this will just be a quick review. I’ll let the pics do the talking and point out where I see mold and feature differences.

For the alt mode, the obvious differences from MP Sideswipe are the colors and paint apps. I won’t describe it too much, just refer to the pics. The big obvious mold difference is the emergency lights on top of the vehicle. These lights are added on as an extra accessory. They plug into the top, like you would the weapons for this figure. The middle section of the lights are also hollowed out, so you can plug the weapon on top of them if you wish. See the above pic.

Above are some shots of MP Red Alert with MP Optimus (The TRU exclusive, same mold as the MP-10). As you can see these scale real well. Red Alert fits inside the trailer just fine.

The robot is really similar to Sideswipe as well. The first mold difference is in the shoulders. Notice the wheels on the shoulders. The front wheels are still embedded inside the chest, the wheels on the shoulders are purely decorative. They did this to be show accurate, since in the G1 cartoons that’s how he was drawn. Very cool. The other mold difference is in the head. Red Alert has a shorter antenna than Sideswipe. There are the only mold differences I detect. All other differences are in the colors. For Red Alert, I really like the purple pieces on the legs. I don’t know if this is done to be show accurate, but it does add that little extra something to the appearance of the figure.

Here’s a gimmick for this figure. Red Alert comes with these clear blue plastic pieces that you can fit over his head, so he looks like he’s detecting danger about to happen. We see him do this in the G1 cartoons. Pretty cool. That’s the only gimmick pieces for this figure. Total number of accessories for Red Alert is the same as Sideswipe. Sideswipe has the 2 pile drivers, and Red Alert has the emergency lights and the danger/caution head piece. Gun and missile launcher appears to be the exact same mold as Sideswipe’s, just different color.

There you have it. Another cool MP from Takara. I suggest buying Red Alert even if you already have Sideswipe. Yeah he’s just a repaint and the extra gimmicks aren’t groundbreaking by any means, but this is such a cool mold that it’s a sin to not have. My feeling is, if you already bought Sideswipe, you’ve probably already bought Red Alert anyway, or is going to.

On a separate note, I finally got around to updating my TF List. It’s been long overdue. My many recent purchases are all included.

Now I’m really looking forward to MP Soundwave. I didn’t pre-order on him yet, but I pre-ordered the cassettes (both MP-15 and MP-16). I wonder if there will be US version of MP Soundwave?

Transform and Roll Out!

Categories: Pics, Toy Reviews

Transformers Purchased in December 2012

January 2nd, 2013 2 comments

Happy New Year!

Before I say goodbye to 2012, it’s time to count up the Transformers acquired in December.

  • DOTM Jetwing Optimus Prime, Amazon.com, $104.99

  • TF Prime RID Vehicon, gift from Pax Cybertron

  • TF Prime FE Bulkhead, Toys R Us, $24.99

  • FOC Soundwave and Laserbeak, Toys R Us, $22.99

FOC Data Discs

  • FOC Frenzy and Ratbat, Toys R Us, $10.99
  • FOC Ravage and Rumble, Toys R Us, $6.59

That’s a total of 9 TFs for the month. 6 from Fall of Cybertron (FOC), 1 from Dark of the Moon (DOTM), and 2 TF Primes.

The Vehicon is from Pax Cybertron. See this post for full details.

As for Bulkhead, this is my 2nd purchase of this figure. I know, I said no multiples this year. But at $24.99 it feels so cheap compared to what I paid for the 1st one, which was $69.99. I really like this fig too, so I got another. Though it does make me feel stupid for buying the 1st one from eBay. Toys R Us has FE Optimus Prime at $24.99 also. It took a lot of willpower for me to not buy a 2nd one of that fig. This 2nd Bulkhead I’m leaving sealed in the box, and the pic above is of the 1st figure.

The FOC figures I found all on the same trip to Toys R Us. I have opened them all and they are all recommended, especially Soundwave. My only gripe about these is that the discs don’t eject all that well, and that the auto-transform mechanics of the discs more hinders than helps. But don’t let that stop you from buying them if you see them. On my visit, TRU was doing a buy one and get one at 40% off on all TFs. This is why one of the pair of discs was only $6.59. I really wanted to get another TF to pair with Soundwave for another 40% off (again, really considered FE Optimus), but in the end only decided to get the new figs.

DOTM Jetwing Optimus I have not opened. I might someday. I really want to checkout the wings. I believe the base figure is a slight remold of ROTF Leader class Optimus, which is an excellent figure. The only new gimmick here is the wings. Some fans have said that the Japanese version of this fig is hands down the best transforming movie Optimus made. That one retailed for over $200 US, so I wasted no time to pre-order the US Amazon Exclusive version at $104.99. However, around mid-December, Amazon dropped the price of this figure to only $52. That kinda pissed me off. I could’ve got this for half the price. Oh well. At this very moment, Amazon has it at about $100, so I don’t feel too bad anymore.

2012 was the first year where I kept stats on the number of TFs I purchased. Here are the year to date statistics:

  • 12 figures from Dark of the Moon (DOTM)
  • 32 figures from Transformers Prime
  • 3 Power Core Combiners (PCC)
  • 1 figure from Cybertron
  • 5 Masterpieces
  • 19 figures from Generations Fall of Cybertron (FOC)
  • 16 figures from Generations GDO
  • 1 Alternity figure
  • 2 Animated figures
  • 3 Star Wars figures
  • 7 3rd Party figures

That’s a grand total of 103 figures for 2012. Is that good? Who knows. That’s about 8.5 figs per month. Or close to 2 figs a week.

And as I look at the stats from month to month, I noticed that most of my purchases came at Q1 and Q4. Right after and right before new years. From April to Sept there was a real drought of TFs. I guess this is normal for a non-movie year. It’s also not surprising that most of the figures came from TF Prime, since it is the active TF show.

On a more personal note, I’m happy to be done with 2012. It’s been a weird year for me, in both good and bad ways. I’m looking forward to 2013. I don’t know what kind of TFs Hasbro has planned for 2013, but they come up with something to keep me interested every year.

I’m ready for 2013! Transform and Roll Out!

Categories: On The Hunt, Pics