Archive

Archive for April, 2019

Warbotron Double Strike Quick Review

April 25th, 2019 Comments off

I recently acquired Double Strike. This is Warbotron’s MP interpretation of Technobot Strafe. Since I did a review on Turbo Ejector (Afterburner), I’m gonna do a review on Double Strike as well.

I got Double Strike at a sale price of $51.99 (MSRP is $95.99). That’s almost half off! Since I was so impressed with Turbo Ejector, I had to get Double Strike to check it out for myself. Is he as good as Turbo Ejector? Let’s find out.

We will start with the box.

Double Strike is packed in the same kind of box as Turbo Ejector. And that’s a good thing, because these boxes are so high quality. They are composed of hard cardboard, and there’s a tab on the side for easy pull out. I didn’t include the outer box wrap in the pic above, but Double Strike has one too.

Box flap opens to reveal another good artwork.

In the packaging.

Double Strike is about the same height as Turbo Ejector. That makes sense as they both form the arms. I think Double Strike weighs a bit less than Turbo Ejector, but not my much. The figure is solid, with a nice hefty feel for a toy of this size.

Pic of lower back and legs. Notice how well the wings compact onto the back of the legs.

Ready for battle.

Another action pose.

Close up of the face. Decent sculpt with awesome light-piping.

Watch me balance on 1 leg!

Just like Turbo Ejector, Double Strike is well built. All joints are nice and tight, and some are clicky too. I detect no tolerance issues. All weapons fit where they are supposed to without it being too loose or too tight.

Transformation to jet mode is super straight forward. Just like Turbo Ejector, Double Strike follows the same overall scheme of his G1 predecessor. If you read the instructions, it will seem like the transformation is more complicated than it really is. I suggest just going straight in without looking at the instructions. Anyone familiar with Transformers in general shouldn’t have any problems.

The arms go up and over the back, and sits on top of the jet alt mode, instead of on the sides like G1. Waist rotation is required. Snap legs together and push in toward the waist. Unfold the wings. There is a back assembly with missile that stretched down and pegs in. Attach twin guns at front of the shoulder. That’s about it.

Pics of the jet mode below. It looks good and resembles G1 Strafe quite well. No TransFan will mistake this jet for anyone else.

View from the side.

View directly from the front.

View directly from the back.

Bottom view.

Rear landing gears don’t retract. The front landing gears can be rotated up, but they are still visible from the side. In the pic above, I got one front landing rotated up, and one left out.

An alternate wing configuration is in the pic below. This is actually the official Warbotron configuration. But I prefer a more G1 look, so in all other pics I had the wings configured more like G1.

The missile launcher on top of the jet deserves its 15 minutes. This thing shoots far! Be careful when firing. You’ll shoot your eye out, or worse yet, lose the missile.

Overall, I recommend Double Strike. I don’t think he’s as good as Turbo Ejector, but he’s still another solid addition to the Warbotron Technobot team.

Will I get the rest of the team? Only time will tell. Transform and Roll Out.
 

Categories: Pics, Toy Reviews

Transformers Purchased in March 2018

April 11th, 2019 Comments off

March of 2018 continues with a random assortment of Transformers. And for the first time in a long time, there are two purchases for the same character! I’m not sure if the last time this happened was February of 2016, when I got two Onslaughts. You can try to guess the lucky Transformer that this happened to, or just scroll down to see who it is.

  • Power of the Primes Rippersnapper, amazon.com, $16.99

  • Power of the Primes Elita-1, Walmart, $24.97

  • Studio Series Thundercracker, Toys R Us, $29.99

  • Power of the Primes Sludge, Target, $16.99

  • Mech Fans Toys Slurdge, eBay, $20.99

  • Kubianbao MCS-01 KBBMP10-V, eBay, $42.99

Rippersnapper

I went into Rippersnapper and the rest of his Terrorcon cohorts back in this post. But to quickly summarize, all the Terrorcons are pretty good. Terrorcons are the ultimate version of combining figures that started in Combiner Wars and then evolved to peak form in Power of the Primes. Rippersnapper is a required purchase if you collect the combiner teams.

Elita-1

It’s good to see that Hasbro is continuing the trend of properly releasing fembots in the CHUG-verse. What I mean is that these are new molds introduced in CHUG, made specifically for the character they represent, and not repaints of other TF lines. It started with Generations Thrilling 30 Arcee and Chromia, in late 2014 / early 2015.

Elita-1 in PotP is the next fembot to continue this treatment. We got this mold for Starscream, back in December of 2017. It’s debatable if this should be classified as a prepaint. Starscream is the more famous character, but this mold was always meant to Elita-1. Using it first for Starscream was another quick cash grab on Hasbro’s part.

As for the toy itself, I think it’s just ok. None of the three modes are all that good, if you ask me. The jet mode is too bulky. The robot mode has too much kibble. And the combined body mode doesn’t serve the purpose well, when compared with superior body combining figs like Hun-Gurrr or Silverbolt. Transformation between jet mode and robot mode is so simple it’s not even worth describing. Making Elita-1 the body of a combiner seems entirely unnecessary. A superior figure could have been made if the mechanics needed to combine were left out. I suppose the only real reason to get this fig is to have a proper CHUG version of Elita-1. She is a character that only true G1 fans would know about. If you know nothing of the character, then it’s best to leave this figure on the store shelf.

I will point out that this figure has a terrific head mold, which may be its one redeeming feature as a toy. Check out the pic below. This head design is derived directly from the G1 animation. That’s right G1 fans. Hasbro loves you.

Thundercracker

Studio Series Thundercracker is another Hasbro cash grab. I was under the impression that Studio Series were all new movie molds, but that’s simply not the case. This Thundercracker is a repaint of Nitro from The Last Knight. As good as that figure is, I don’t think this repaint is all that relevant. I don’t remember Thundercracker making an appearance anywhere in in the movie-verse.

Still, I got this fig because he is a Toys R Us exclusive. And because I knew this was gonna be the last thing I buy from Toys R Us. If you don’t have Nitro, or if you dig that figure in these blue and grey colors, then go ahead and buy Thundercracker. Otherwise, this purchase is not recommended. I still have not opened Thundercracker to this day. I’ll probably re-sell him someday.

Sludge

Continuing with Dinobots in Power of the Primes, Sludge makes his appearance this month. He is a solid edition to the team. Both modes look good. Transformation is a bit on the simple side, but it’s different enough from the usual way Sludge transforms to make this figure refreshing. PotP Sludge is a great toy to just pick up and play.

Transformation from robot to dino deserves some explaining. There are some key variations from the usual G1 Sludge transformation scheme. Flip up the dino head and neck from the back, but a rotation of the neck is necessary. Close the wings like normal, but the wings form a full closure, and the contact point is where the dino back is. The waist needs to rotate 180, then fold the robot legs. Forearms need to rotate 180 so the fists face the other side. Those are the key differences. If you followed all that, you will see that the back of the dino is where the robot chest is housed. All other transformation mechanics are there to account for that difference. It sounds complicated when I describe it, but it’s really not. Like I said, PotP Sludge is simple for anyone to transform, and that goes double for any TransFan who’s been around since G1.

If you got the other PotP Dinos, then you will get this regardless of what I say. And if you don’t, get Sludge anyway.

Slurdge

From Sludge we go to Slurdge. That’s not a mis-spelling. Slurdge by Mech Fans Toys is 4th party, which means it’s a KO of a 3rd party product. I know next to nothing about Mech Fans Toys. Even their name sounds like a ripoff of Fans Toys.

MFT may think that they can add “r” in there and no one is the wiser, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that this is Sludge. And Yes, Sludge the character get the proud distinction of being represented by 2 different figures in the same month. I believe MFT Slurdge is a KO of a DX9 product. Though MFT did give it way better paint. Look at all the bling on Slurdge in the pics below.

The only other MFT product I have is Grmlock. Be prepared for a good workout, because both MFT products will test your hands when transforming. There are some moving pieces on these figures you will have to pry open. Both high strength and high dexterity are required.

Transformation scheme of Slurdge is also unique. It deviates from the standard G1 scheme, even more so than PotP Sludge. What folds up from the robot back to cover the robot head is the dino tail, instead of the dino neck and head. The robot arms become the hind dino legs. The robot chest needs to flip down, then rotate and fold downwards toward the robot legs. The dino front legs and neck and head are all folded inside the robot legs, and they need to come out. Stretch out the robot waist then fold the robot legs unto itself. This is most definitely an original implementation of how Sludge transforms. And the dino mode looks so good. See below for yourself.

Playing with the figure can be a chore. In addition to the tight joints, some bits and pieces need to be angled perfectly to have enough clearance to get to where it needs to be.

Slurdge comes with a black gun (pictured above) and a clear red sword (not pictured).

All in all, I like this MFT figure. Yeah it’s a KO of something else, but they did add nice paint to their offering. At a price point of being in the low 20s, it doesn’t break the bank. Dinobot fans should check this out.

On a related note, most of the modern Sludge figures made have original transformation schemes from G1. The only Sludge that follows the G1 scheme is Fans Toys Stomp. Mech Fans Toys Slurdge, ToyWorld Muddy, and Power of the Prime Sludge described above all implemented a new unique scheme.

So who wore it better? PotP Sludge or MFT Slurdge? I’ll be doing a in-depth analysis of these 2 in an upcoming post. Stay tuned.

KBBMP10-V

For those of you that are unfamiliar with Kubianbao (KBB), they are another KO company. As far as I know, none of their products are original creations. They tend to make KO figures out of official HasTak products. Now that’s not to say what they produce is bad. In fact, many TransFans have stated their figures are superior to what HasTak churns out. A prime example of this is their version of official MP Seekers. HasTak has used that mold so many times now that the later production runs are plagued with build and construction issues. KBB, being KO and all, does not have such problems.

KBBMP10-V is Kubianbao’s KO take on the MP-10 Optimus Prime. However, this figure is now downsized to Voyager scale. KBB didn’t even give this a name, they just called it KBBMP10-V. So let’s break apart this designation: it’s from KBB, a KO of MP10, at Voyager scale. KBBMP10-V. Very apt.

Now you might be thinking to yourself, “KO is crap!” Well, let me state this now with no uncertainty: MBBMP10-V SCREAMS QUALITY!!! Everything from the packaging to the figure to the accessories, MBBMP10-V is produced so well that HasTak should be ashamed of themselves for not being up to par. Let’s start by looking at the box.

The box is made of high quality hard cardboard, not unlike the kind used for Warbotron Turbo Ejector. Are you seeing this Hasbro? KO products are doing it better than you.

Paint and finish of the figure is top-notch. Below are some pics of the truck mode.

Transformation of the figure is just like MP-10, so I won’t go into it too much. Below is a pic of the robot mode with a nice rub-on decal on his left shoulder (duplicated from this post).

Look at all these accessories!

  • 3 extra heads: 2 are a different style of Optimus, and 1 is Orion Pax
  • energon axe with energy ball attachment
  • standard Optimus rifle, folds and stores onto the back like the official MP-10
  • Megatron in alt mode with shoulder stock attachment
  • jetpack (only used once in the cartoon, but it’s become an OP accessory staple)
  • sword (used by OP in the movies)
  • Matrix of Leadership; not pictured, can be placed inside KBBMP10-V

I highly recommend KBBMP10-V. Essentially, it’s MP-10 scaled down to voyager size. So if you need a G1 accurate OP to go along with your CHUG figs, this is the toy to get. It may be KO, but it’s so well done. And at only around $40, you’re getting a quality figure in a quality box with tons of accessories.

That’s it for this knock off heavy month. Will I ever buy more KOs in a single month than legit and 3P products? Only time will tell.

Transform and Roll Out.

 

Categories: On The Hunt, Pics