Earlier this month I decided to make an order with Hasbrotoyshop.com. Seibertron will usually post when new figures are available for purchase. They made the announcement that Jazz and Tracks are out and HTS had them. I had a feeling I was not going to find them before Christmas in the stores. And being the G1 guy that I am, I had to have them during the Holidays, so I made the order.

Usually I prefer to hunt for figures in the stores. I find it fun to hunt for them, I like to save on shipping, and I can usually find it cheaper than what HTS wants, which is MSRP. But like I said, I must have Jazz and Tracks now, so I made an exception. Plus HTS was doing free shipping for orders over $50. In this order I got Jazz, Tracks, Dirge, Skullgrin, and Cybertronian Cliffjumper. Dirge was $12.99, while the rest of them was $11.99 each.

HTS divided this order into 2 separate shipments. Dirge, Skullgrin, and Cliffjumper came first. I guess those were in stock and ready to ship. Actually, I found these 3 when I found Thunderwing at Target, each for less at $9.04. So in some ways I was kicking myself for the HTS order. But I just kept reminding myself that I did it for Jazz and Tracks and it’ll be worth it. These 2 finally arrived yesterday and I now have them all in hand!

I opened Dirge before Jazz and Tracks arrived, so he’s all by his lonesome.

HTS used boxes not at all appropriate for what they were shipping. The backing was Jazz and Tracks was bent when they arrived. They were stuffed into a box not long enough for the backing.

On the other hand, the box used for the other 3 was way too big. Again, I already opened Dirge when I took this pic, but just imagine him in the box below and there’s still way too much space. Length and width of the box is about right for 3 deluxe figs, but the box is way too deep.

I guess I should be grateful that the shipping was free. Shipping for something this large would not be fun to pay for.

There’s certainly enough TFs here to make for a fun Cybertronian Christmas. I still haven’t opened the Power Core Combiners that I got from Thanksgiving, so I still got those to mess with. I’ll be doing reviews of some of these, so stay tuned. Have a safe and happy holiday my fellow TransFans. Transform and Roll Out!

As I mentioned in my last post, I was in the process of moving. Moving is such a pain in the butt, especially when you have a lot of collectibles. It pretty much took up all my time for the last 2 weeks so I haven’t really had time to hunt for TFs or write in this blog. I finally got done with the move last Friday, so on Sat I had some time to do a hunt. I went to Target and I was lucky enough to find Thunderwing. He is a rare find as of this writing. There are 28 sightings on Seibertron currently, but only one of them is in California. He’s also all sold out on Hasbrotoyshop.com.

I’m done moving, but a lot of my stuff is still unpacked at the new place. I need a break from unpacking so I’m gonna do a review. Here we go.

Below is Thunderwing in the package.

For those that are not familiar with the character, Thunderwing was a G1 Pretender. Pretenders came around after the US G1 cartoons officially stopped. Thunderwing was a Mega Pretender (the shells transform), and they appeared even later. So yeah, he arrived just in time to see G1 come to an end. I’m only aware of the character because he played a fairly significant role in the comics. He is also the lead villain in Stormbringer, where he is depicted as being huge and very powerful.

This Generations figure seems to take cues from both the G1 and Stormbringer versions of the character. His alt mode seems to be some kind of stealth jet fighter. I really like the look of this jet. His appearance in this mode is sleek to say the least. Hasbro has been really good about hiding the bulk for their jet figures as of late, unlike earlier figures (especially from the first Movie) where the bottom is pure bulk. Thunderwing is no exception. I also like the shape of the wings, the canards, and the tail fins. There’s some nice detailing all over the jet.

The colors are a pure homage to G1, where he is mostly white with stripes of blue here and there. I don’t remember what was the color of the cockpit in G1, but in this version I like the bright orange. It kinda gives the colors that little extra something. The missiles are also the same orange to match. The thrusters and missile launchers are purple, and I think that was the color of his G1 weapons. The Decepticon logo is printed on the end of both wings. A very nice color scheme overall.

Thunderwing has enough guns in jet mode to seriously take out some Autobots that dare get in his way. He’s got two black guns near the intake. These can be rotated to shoot to the side. The missiles on the wings do fire and they can also be rotated. Oh, these are probably some of the most powerful launchers I’ve tested in all my TFs.

The shot above shows the bottom of the jet. He’s got landing gears at the usual positions that you would expect. Obviously they can be retracted. It is not hard to get these landing gears out.

As you can see from the pic above, the front nosecone area can be detached to form a mini-drone. I think this feature is a pure homage to G1. The G1 figure, as far as I know, also had some kind of drone, so it’s nice to see Hasbro not forget us older fans. I don’t think this drone serves any real purpose on this figure, but it’s still kind of a nice feature. You can simply ignore it and leave it on the main figure if you find it useless.

I do have one gripe about the jet mode, and it is best illustrated with the pic above. In this shot, I purposely left the wings extended to the side. This is what you do when you transform him to robot mode. My issue is that it is really easy to accidentally misshape the jet into this configuration. This is because there is nothing locking the blue pieces of the wings in place where it needs to be. So if you’re trying to rotate or remove the missiles, or if you’re just being a little too rough with the figure, the wings will come apart as shown above. I think the easiest thing that Hasbro could have done here is put a tab on the arms somewhere, and that can stick into a slot on the underside of the wings. This way, both the wings and arms are locked in place.

But other than the issue mentioned above, Thunderwing in jet mode is still well made and well engineered. I find no other weaknesses with the jet mode.

Thundering is only rated a 2 on the new transformation scale of 0 to 5. This ranks him as easy, and I agree with this score. He’s about the same difficulty as Generations WFC Megatron (who is rated a 3 but I think it should have been a 2). Hasbro came up with some very clever and new twists on the jet to robot transformation. When I describe it here in words, it will sound like the same tried and true formula for a jet transformation (ex: nose and wings form the back, sides become the arms, back of jet form the legs, etc). However, there are refreshing implementations to how all this is done, and the result is a transformation that feels like nothing we’ve seen before. For example, the waist and upper legs have a mechanism that folds outwards in robot mode to extend the legs, instead of the usual method of pulling the legs out. However, I should point out that the transformation is pretty easy. Fans that found issues with the simplicity of Universe Silverbolt may also find issues here, though Thunderwing is not that bad. Personally, I think this is a nice change from all the more difficult TFs we’ve been getting recently. You can really have fun with this figure and transforming him won’t feel like work.

I mentioned that in G1 Thunderwing is a Pretender. In this version, his robot mode resembles the Pretender shell and not his G1 robot mode. ROTF Bludgeon started this trend for G1 Pretender characters and I’m happy to see it continued.

Thunderwing looks quite cool in robot form. His appearance is without a doubt G1 inspired. His head mold, color scheme, and overall body styling resembles the shell closely. However, since this robot mode is not a shell, Hasbro is able to make him appear nice and lean, unlike G1 shell toys where they’re all clunky and bulky. In the comics, Thunderwing is almost always inside the shell, so this is the robot form that we are used to. It’s awesome to see this figure represent that interpretation faithfully.

This figure can be put into a wide array of poses. He’s got no waist articulation and the knees are not on a ball joint, but I think those are the only limitations. I’m sure there are fans out there that will cry and whine over this, but it’s something I can easily live with. Construction-wise, I see no issues. Thunderwing hold his poses well. All his joints are just right, not too tight and not too loose. I don’t detect any paint or assembly goofs on my figure. Some might say he’s got too much kibble on his back, but I like the way it looks. Kinda reminds me of the design of the Aerialbots, having a mini-jet on the back. Besides, I think this is how he looked in the comics.

Thunderwing is able to hold a weapon in each hand for some serious twin gun action, or you can combine the two guns into one giant rifle for some heavy fire power. There are tabs and holes on the launchers designed to do this, though you won’t see that anywhere on the instruction manual. I saw someone point this out on YouTube. Oh, btw, I want to take this time to commend Hasbro for printing transformation instructions to go forward and back, instead of simply saying to reverse the process to go back. They’ve been doing this in the latest batch of figures. Personally I don’t need it, but I know it’s been a complaint by the more casual fans, such as parents trying to transform it for their kids.

I do want to gripe about the scale of this figure, and I guess just with Generations figures in general. They are all deluxe class, meaning they’re all the same size. Scale wise, that’s just wrong. Bumblebee cannot be the same size as Megatron. Thunderwing is supposed to be HUGE in the comics. Don’t get me wrong, having a figure is better than not having one at all, but Hasbro could improve on the size. I understand that Deluxe is their best selling class. But the Generations figures are really aimed at a more seasoned audience, who in my opinion would spend the extra dollars if some of these characters are released as Voyager or Leader class figures.

But that aside, I highly recommend the Thunderwing figure. He is a great update of the character. Don’t let the wing and scale issues that I mentioned discourage you. He’s got way more positives than those minor negatives. Do not hesitate to get one if you spot one at your favorite retailer.

Until next time, this is Hsunami Prime, reminding you to… Transform and Roll Out!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am home for the long weekend to spend it with my family, and I hope all of you had a safe and happy holiday.

I know this is a little late, but seeing as how I haven’t posted anything in a long time, I felt compelled to write something. It wasn’t my intention to ignore this blog in the month of November, but I’m just way too busy with other things, such as work, the holidays, planning for my upcoming move, some personal matters, and too many other misc issues to list. Anyway, Thanksgiving long weekend is coming to a close so I think it’s appropriate to list out some TFs I have found in the last several days.

On Black Friday I went to Target. I didn’t get there til 11am so it’s possible all the good stuff are gone, but it’s not really my style to get in line the night before and spend hours in the cold just to get some good deals. Anyway, the only TFs I saw on sale were some Power Core Combiners. Each set was going for only $10. Not a bad deal, so I picked up the only two kind they had left.

Stakeout’s limb components are called Protectobots. So I guess he’s a homage to the G1 team of the same name. Crankcase looks like a homage to Stunticons, seeing as he’s got Motormaster’s color scheme and the combined head sculpt is like Menasor. I do have Huffer so I already know how Crankcase will be like, though I haven’t opened either of these so I’m curious about their combination mechanism. But seeing as how the limb components do not transform, I’m really not too excited about these. I just figured I buy them since the price was good.

On Saturday I went to Walmart, and found some Cybertron repaints in the Universe line. Not sure if these are Walmart exclusives. I was not even aware of these so they weren’t something I was looking for. In fact, I don’t even know if these are new or leftovers from previous years. But at $4 each I bought them for the heck of it.

I opened both of these. They’re alright at $4, but if they costed anymore, I would not recommend them. They’re not worth reviewing so I’ll just state some thoughts real quick. I like both their alt modes, but each figure does have weaknesses. Brakedown’s construction leaves a little to be desired. Brushguard’s arms are always bent at the elbow, and there’s already a lot of kibble in the arm area, so posing his arms are very difficult. I do like his Wolverine like claws, however.

Oh, in case you haven’t noticed, this is Brakedown, not Breakdown. I wasn’t even paying attention when I bought it so I simply assumed this is an update of Breakdown of G1 Stunticon fame.

Well, that’s about it. I was hoping to find some new Generations figures over the long weekend, such as Blurr, Dirge, or Soundwave, but no such luck. Too bad. But I was able to find a good deal on PSP for cheap at Target. The were selling the Black Friday bundle for only $127! This bundle includes the PSP 3000, Karate Kid on UMD, Little Big Planet, and a 1GB memory stick. I’ve wanted a PSP for some time now. At this price it was a no brainer.

Sometimes I wonder what kind of holidays they would have on Cybertron. LOL. Transform and Roll Out!

It is that time again my friends! Welcome to the 3rd edition of Before Carly on this blog! As usual, I’ll start with the official description that was on Seibertron.com:

“Spike is quite the ladies man. He eventually married Carly, but she was not the only one to have fun in the backseat of Bumblebee.”

When does Spike find time to have fun with all these babes? Your guess is as good as mine.

The name of each girl is made to sound like various characters in the TF universe, and each part of every name is based on real names I’ve seen. See how many TFs you can identify. Highlight over the name of each girl (written in red) to reveal the answer.

Enjoy the pics!

In case you missed it, here are the previous Before Carly posts:
Before Carly
Before Carly 2

Transform and Roll Out!

I think by now, all TransFans are aware that Transformers Animated have officially ended. All remaining TFA toys that were planned are exclusively released in the United States through Toys R Us. I’m really only aware of 4 figures: Cybertron Mode Ratchet, Arcee, Rodimus Minor, and Cybertron Mode Ironhide. Cybertron Mode Ratchet came out as early as January of this year, and I think I found them locally in February. Toys R Us ordered way too many of this figure. Every store I visited recently is overstocked with Ratchet. This is not true with the rest of the figures. Arcee I only saw once in May, and never again. And because of this, I had a feeling that Rodimus and Ironhide were gonna be rare finds as well.

Fans have been reporting sightings of these two figures as early as August, so I’ve been keeping my eyes open. I was lucky I was able to find some right before Columbus Day weekend. My local Toys R Us didn’t have that many either, only 4 Rodimus and 3 Ironhide figures. Needless to say, I quickly grabbed some and proceeded to check out. I only left one of each on the shelves. The girl at the checkout was like, “Damn, you got them all! People have been asking about these!” LOL. I have been back to the store once since, and yeah, they’re all gone. I don’t anticipate my TRU to get anymore either. Ebay dealers ask a minimum of $25 for these, and that doesn’t include ship. These appear to be rare indeed.

Anyway, today I’m doing a review of the Rodimus Minor figure. I have not yet opened Ironhide, but he’s a repaint of Ratchet so I already know what to expect. I may do a review of him and Ratchet later in a future post.

Check out some pics of Rodimus Minor in the package.

I really like the look of this Rodimus in alt mode. His appearance is most definitely G1 inspired. The figure is mostly red with some stripes of yellow on the hood and on the wing. In G1 he had flames, but I think the yellow triangular stripes actually looks better. The window is in that famous blue like all other Rodimus figures. The engine on the hood is faithfully represented here. In G1 and Classic Rodimus, the side exhaust pipes are located on the side bottom of the vehicle. However in Animated, they’re located higher on the side, a little above the rear tires. I rather like this design, it manages to make the look refreshing, but still identifiable. Compared to other Rodimus figures, the shape of this one is more streamlined and more sleek. I have no complaints on the looks of the alt mode whatsoever. I haven’t seen Season 3 of Animated so I can’t comment on show accuracy, but if it looks anything like the package image then I would say the figure represented his look faithfully.

Functionally, Hasbro’s toy designers did a great job in the engineering of this figure. Rodimus is quite solid in this mode. As with most other TFA figures, the various parts and pieces come together well to form the vehicle. Everything snaps together nicely, and there are no dangling bits to be found. The alt mode will not come apart easily even if you choose to play rough with the figure as the car. On a flat surface, Rodimus rolls well on all 4 wheels and I see no balancing issues. The only noticeable seam line is towards the rear, above the wheel area, but that is something I can easily live with.

Size-wise, Animated Rodimus is a little smaller compared to Classic or Henkei Rodimus in alt mode. Check out the pic below.

His bow-type weapon can be attached in alt mode. Simply plug the pegs on the weapon into the slots on top of the vehicle. The missiles fire a good distance, though it’s not the strongest when compared to recent Hasbro offerings. If I was to name one gripe, it’s that the weapon is not that easy to attach in this mode. This weapon is angled upwards when mounted, and the tail end of the missiles make contact with the wing, so attaching this thing is harder than it looks. Not only that, the obvious place to apply force downwards on the weapon to mount it is exactly where the firing buttons are, so you almost always accidentally fire the missiles. I’ve learned to attach the launcher first, then connect the missiles. Also, even with all this, it’s real easy to accidentally make contact with the weapon, in which case you will almost always knock it off the figure (very similar to Arcee’s wings, though not that bad). I opened two Rodimus figures (more on this later), and they both have these issues with the weapon, so I’m going to assume this is an issue with the mold. Still, this is just a little gripe, and I think he looks better without the weapon in alt mode anyway so I just prefer to leave it off.

Overall, I’m very happy with the alt mode.

The transformation to robot mode is quite unique for a Rodimus figure. The standard transformation for Rodimus in other lines has the hood forming the chest, cockpit and wings becoming the back, the sides folding out to be the arms, and rear section of the car as the legs. Animated Rodimus Minor puts a slight spin on this familiar theme. The legs are buried entirely underneath the vehicle, with the feet connecting to below the front hood area. The arms go over the rear wheel area, and during transformation there are joints that will connect them with the chest. The front wheels also fold into the chest, and the engine can flip over in robot mode to reveal the Autobot insignia. It’s nice to see Hasbro trying something new in the transformation. The result is a process that feels both refreshing and familiar at the same time, something not easily achieved for such a recognizable character. And in my opinion, the transformation difficulty level is just right. It’s complex enough to be a fully qualified Transformer, but at the same time still fun enough that it doesn’t feel like work to transform it.

In robot mode, Rodimus looks great. He’s well proportioned and there’s not any body parts that look too big or too small. Again, I have not seen this character in the cartoon, but it appears that the toy captured the look of Animated Rodimus quite well. The paint job on a standard $10 Hasbro figure usually leaves a little to be desired, and on this figure it’s no exception. However, I don’t detect any color goofs, so at least Hasbro got that right.

Design wise, there is no mistaking that this is Rodimus. Anyone who is vaguely familiar with G1 Hot Rod will easily identify this character. His overall color scheme, his trademark wings, and his arm cannons are all here. The figure is capable of a wide range of poses. Ball joints are used almost everywhere. Fans big on poseability will find nothing to complain about here.

Functionally, Rodimus is well built. All pieces lock into place where they should, resulting in a solid robot mode. When I transformed him the first time, I thought the chest piece would dangle around. But after you lock in the cockpit window into the upper back, everything stays put. The side exhaust on the upper legs also clicks into position. The figure is very, very well engineered. Overall, I have no complaints about the robot mode of Rodimus Minor whatsoever.

Below are some size comparison pics with other Rodimus figures. Notice in robot mode, Animated Rodimus becomes a little bigger than Classic/Henkei Rodimus, whereas in alt mode he was smaller.

I mentioned that I got two of these and I opened both of them. For really rare figures that don’t cost much, I sometimes buy multiples, one to open and one to keep mint in the package, maybe to sell later or just to hang on to so I can say I have a mint one. Well, the first one I opened came with two left hands! Check out the pic below. The two-handed one is on the right. Functionally that’s just wrong, so I opened the other one as well. By the time I opened them, there were none left at TRU so exchange is not an option. I could return it, but I thought I keep it just for laughs. I googled this and I don’t see any other fan reporting this issue, so I’m forced to assume this is an isolated incident. But just keep in mind this could happen if you find and buy a Rodimus figure. And I’m just happy that I got a 2nd one so I don’t have to live with the two left-handed one.

So there you have it, my thoughts on Animated Rodimus Minor. I can’t recommend this figure enough. Compared with other Rodimus figures, I would say this is the second best one of all time, right behind Classic/Henkei Rodimus.

Come and think of it, all the recent figures that I opened have been really good. Hasbro has been on a roll when it comes to doing new molds. I will be doing reviews of some other great figures that came out recently, so stay tuned. Transform and Roll Out!

FansProject is currently developing an add-on kit for Classics/Henkei Rodimus. I first reported this add-on kit back in April of this year. FP have recently released color pics of the set. Appearance wise, this kit is shaping up to be excellent. If the quality of this add-on is anywhere close to the usual high standards of FP products (and I have many), then we can assume we have another winning product on our hands. But enough talking. Check out the pics below.

Many reputable dealers are already taking pre-orders for this set. Get yours now! Transform and Roll Out!

I love the Masterpiece line. Figures made in the MP line are most definitely worthy of the Masterpiece designation. They are well-designed, show accurate, large, robust, and possess complex transformations that would appeal to the mature Transfan. MPs are the ultimate interpretation of G1 characters in their G1 incarnations. The only exception to this rule I can think of is Movie MP Starscream. In the US he is released as a Leader class ROTF figure. I’m not sure why Hasbro chose to release him as a MP in Japan. Maybe they just want to milk the MP brand.

The next MP to be released is Rodimus Prime. News of his upcoming release came out either last month or the month before. But at that time we only had very early prototype pics that were not colored. I’m happy to report that there are more finalized pics of MP Rodimus Prime. Click here for the full report. The post is in Japanese but you can still drool over the pics.

Go Rodimus! He’s getting some big time love in 2010. In addition to this, there is the FansProject Protector add-on for Classics/Henkei Rodimus that I reported earlier in the year. There is also an Animated Rodimus Minor toy that many people have already reported sightings of. 2010 is looking like the year of Rodimus! I must have all of these!

Right after Hot Rod became Rodimus Prime, his first directive to Autobots inside Unicron was… Transform and Roll Out!

Sightings of TFs from the Generations line have been reported all over the web. On Seibertron.com, there are 97 sightings of Cybertronian Optimus Prime from WFC as of this writing. Amazon, Hasbrotoyshop, and TRU have been taking orders for them online. I’ve been keeping my eyes open for their availability in stores for some months now. For some odd reason, here in the West Coast they are still very scarce. But I finally located some at my local TRU this past Monday.

At this moment, my TRU is the only place that has them in very limited quantities. They are nowhere to be seen at my Walmarts or Targets. But I’m just glad I was able to get some. I will be opening these very soon and doing reviews. Until then, feast your eyes on these pics of them in the package.

Sharp TransFans will notice that Hasbro tweaked the Transformation Level on the package to more accurately describe the difficulty of the toy. Hasbro used to simply let the size of the toy dictate the Level, which was absurd. For Generations, Hasbro has extended the scale from 0 to 5 instead of the usual 1 to 4. All 4 figures in the above pics are Deluxe size, but their Levels are different. Prime and Bee are rated 4 for Advanced, Drift is 3 for Intermediate, and Thrust is 2 for Easy. I commend Hasbro for going with this approach.

The Classic line is currently my favorite line of TFs. Generations toys are a direct extension of this, so I couldn’t be more thrilled. There are many more toys planned for this line already, including Red Alert, Dirge, Cybertronian Soundwave, Blurr, Cybertronian Megatron, and many more that I’m forgetting. I eagerly look forward to all of them. Transform and Roll Out!

Today is the final part of my 2009 BotCon pics. Part 2 appears here.

Cosplayers

Warpath
 

Sideswipe
 

Now that is one sexy Cobra Agent. I let her terrorize me any day.
 

Contest Entries

I’m not sure what the contest was for exactly, but there were plenty of impressive entries.

I’m not sure what this was so I’m just gonna lump this in here. Looks like some kind of Photoshop tutorial for TFs.
 

Last but certainly not least…

Tyrese! Yes ladies and gentlemen, the one and only Tyrese Gibson! Chief Master Sergeant Epps made a surprise appearance on the last day of BotCon, and the crowd just went wild! The fans stormed around him to get a chance to shake his hand and get his picture taken in the dealer’s room. I don’t know if Hasbro planned this or not, but the whole thing really felt like a surprise b/c it was not advertised at all. The lucky fans who were close enough during the surprise lined up for a chance at his autograph, but he only stayed for like 20 min and they ran out of stuff to sign real quick. I only managed to snap this pic of him from a distance, but it was still cool. Good to know that Tyrese cares about his fans.
 

Well, there you have it, my experience at BotCon 2009. It was unforgettable to say the least and I’m disappointed that I won’t be going this year. It is definitely on my radar for next year. But before I sign off this post, I should mention the stuff I bought at BotCon 2009. No trip to any anime/toy/comic convention is complete without acquiring some loot, and so with that, I proudly present a list of my BotCon 2009 Haul:

Henkei Thundercracker
Alternator Prowl (used)
Alternator Hound (used, and missing gun)
Alternator Skids
Sound Label Soundwave (spark blue)
Revoltech GR-2 (no. 021)
a Decepticon pillow
… and probably some other stuff that I can’t remember now.

TransFans unite… and heed this call… Transform and Roll Out!

Part 2 of my BotCon 2009 pics continues today. In case you missed it, Part 1 is here.

“Unreleased and Upcoming” Toys

hehe… I put that in quotes cause at the time all these were not released, and planned for the rest of 2009 and part of 2010 (I think all have been released as of this writing). As such, they were all behind glass display cases, standing prominently for the eager TF fan to drool over.
 

The toys in the middle and bottom rows are 2009’s BotCon Exclusives, the “Wings of Honor” set of 5 figures. Don’t remember who they are, but all repaints. I think it was about $200 for the whole set. Not sure who are the guys in the top row.
 

Various “upcoming” ROTF Deluxe and Scout class figures. I still don’t have any of these 🙁
 

ROTF Leader class Prime, Meg, Jetfire. I have Prime.
 

Same toys, different angle.
 

Various “upcoming” ROTF Voyager class figures. Again, I don’t have any of these 🙁
 

Various “upcoming” ROTF Voyager class figures out of the box.
 

Various “upcoming” ROTF Deluxe class figures. I have Sideways, Sideswipe, and Breakaway.
 

Various “upcoming” ROTF Deluxe class figures out of the box.
 

ROTF Devastator!
 

Human Alliance Bumblebee. I really wanted these at the time, but I’m not feeling the robot mode.
 

Human Alliance Bumblebee and Sideswipe.
 

25th Anniversary Soundwave re-issue! He comes with 4 cassettes, one of them (Ratbat) never re-released in the US since the 80s. Being the G1 purist that I am, I knew I had to have this set, despite the fact I already have two other Soundwave re-issues. He ended up being a SDCC Exclusive, but that would not stop me. I ended up getting him thru ebay. I paid $64 shipped, but he’s worth every penny.
 

G1 and ROTF Soundwave and Ravage, side by side. Cool.
 

Fast Action Battlers. I don’t care for these at all.
 

Here we have various store exclusives. Titanium Thrust and Prime were Target Exclusives and they appear on the bottom shelf to the left. I have Titanium Thrust. Next to them are Ultra Class Powerglide, Hardhead, and Skyfall, Walmart Exclusives. MP Skywarp on the top shelf is another Walmart Exclusive. Next to him is the TRU Exclusive Whirl and Roadbuster 2-Pack. Not sure if Ultimate Bumblebee was an exclusive, I know I’ve seen him around and I think at a bunch of places.
 

25th Anniversary Insecticons and Perceptor, and a ROTF Fallen figure.
 

As I look at these now in June of 2010, I’m amazed at how many of them I actually managed to find and buy. Nothing stops me when I want my TFs.

Stay tuned for Part 3… Transform and Roll Out!