One of the biggest differences between the US version of Generations Red Alert and the Japanese Henkei equivalent has to do with the color of Red Alert’s head. The Henkei figure has a red head, accurate to the G1 animated series and to the G1 toy. The US Generations figure, however, comes with a black head, same as Universe Sideswipe. So once again, fans on this side of the Pacific gets the less show accurate version. Personally I don’t think it’s a big issue, but many other G1 fans other than myself feels strongly against the mis-coloration.

And so my friend Gemini comes to the rescue (much like Red Alert himself). As a customizer he did an excellent job of painting Red Alert’s head red for me. While he was at it, he painted the gun silver. Check out pics below.

Customized and uncustomized version side by side.

With his good buddy Inferno.

I think a black head on Red Alert has a charm of its own, but as a G1-er I certainly appreciate a red-headed version. Now if only someone will make his G1 missile launcher…

Transform and Roll Out!

Once again I’m back home. In anticipation of the upcoming Encore reissue Constructicons, I decided to dig out my knock off Constructicons from back in the mid 80s. These are supposed to be knock offs of the original Diaclone toys, that’s why they’re red and yellow.

In alt form they’re in pretty good shape. I didn’t put the accessories on any of these since I think they look better without them.

In robot mode they began to show their age. Left arm on Mixmaster is broken so I left it at the side. Right leg on Hook is broken at the knee, though you can’t tell from the pic. They show some sticker wear but overall not too bad, unlike my G1 Combaticons where all the stickers are in bad shape. My favorite of these is Bonecrusher. I like his transformation the best. I got all the little guns that each of them have, but after 25+ years I can’t remember which gun goes to who so I didn’t bother.

Combined as the fearsome Devastator. They still hold up pretty well after all this time. Granted, it wasn’t that good to begin with since it’s KO, but after 25+ years this set feels about the same connection wise. Some attachments actually felt tighter than I remembered. KO Devastator is all colorful, kinda like movie Devastator.

Below is KO Devastator next to a genuine Diaclone Slag.

As a kid I treasured this set even though I knew they were KO. Nowadays I keep these around for a good laugh.

Transform and Roll Out!

Roll for it! The third movie in the Michael Bay Transformers trilogy, Dark of the Moon, opens on June 29th, 2011. Here in California it is around 9:30pm of June 28th. But when the clock strikes midnight in a few hours, many of the bigger multiplexes around here will be showing the movie.

Normally I would be totally making plans to go to the midnight showing. If not, then this weekend for sure. But the GF is on vacation and she would kill me if I saw this before she did, so most likely I’ll catch it when she returns next week.

Some of my coworkers are planning to see this soon. I’ll be asking for their thoughts.

Prepare yourselves, my fellow TransFans! This is Earth’s Last Stand! Time to… Transform and Roll Out!

Oh happy day! News broke that the G1 Devastator giftset will be re-released in the Encore line. This is finally my chance to get my hands on a complete set of the G1 Constructicons. Release is set for late 2011. MSRP will be around 10500 yen, roughly $130 US today.

I mentioned before that I am on a quest to acquire all the G1 Combiner teams. This brings me one step closer to that dream. Getting a complete G1 Devastator would have costed me an arm and a leg. Now that this set is on the horizon, I might get some of those custom Devastator parts by Crazy Devy. They’re not cheap though. Even at Botcon they were not being sold for any kind of discount. All the parts added together will easily surpass the cost of the giftset.

For the full story, click here.

In related news, the 3rd party Scavenger figure that I reported in my last post is now up for pre-order at your favorite online TF retailers (you know what they are). This product is being called Hercules Exgraver. I’m guessing Hercules is Devastator and Exgraver is Scavenger.

Here’s the pic I took at Botcon:

Another color image:

MSRP of this figure is right below $100. The obvious conclusion here is that this Devastator set will be $600, if they really make all 6. Am I hardcore enough to buy them? Only time will tell.

Dinobots and Constructicons were rivals in G1. At Voyager size, this Constructicons set will even give Masterpiece Grimlock a run for his money. “Prepare for Extermination!”

Constructicons… Transform and Roll Out!

I am back from BotCon 2011! General admission was on June 4th and 5th and I was there both days. Once again I went with my buddy Gemini. We couldn’t wait for BotCon 2011 since we had a blast in 2009, which was also in Pasadena. BotCon 2011 did not disappoint! Check out the pics below.

 

The Venue

 

Across the street from the convention center were parked fan customs of Ratchet and Bumblebee. Notice Ravage is on top of Ratchet. Very cool. Movie Ironhide and G1 Trailbreaker showed up later but I forgot to take pics.

 

Convention Displays

 

 

BotCon 2011 Exclusive Figures

 

I’m not sure what are the names for any of these figures. Also, I had a chance to take pics of the exclusive Animated Stunticons, but forgot to.

 

Hall of Fame

 

 

Upcoming Third Party Figures

 

FansProject is working on an add-on for G2 Optimus to make it look more G2, similar to the add-on for Classic Ultra Magnus and Rodimus. This is shaping up nicely. Word is, there will be 2 versions, one for Prime and a black repaint for Scourge. I’m getting this for sure!

Another shot of the same product from different angle. Also includes a shot of the clear Rodimus add-on.

These are the upcoming FansProject Insecticons! In color for the first time! Really, really looking forward to these. All 3 are required purchase for me.

Masterpiece Ramjet by iGear, or “Jet”. TF Source was selling these for $130 on Sunday. These were available to be touched. The quality is not too shabby, feels like real MPs by Hasbro. Now if they were only about half price I would’ve bought one.

Other Masterpiece Seekers by iGear: Thrust, Dirge, and Sunstorm. Can’t remember what iGear calls them. I’m guessing they will also be around $130 per.

Apparently, iGear is making their own interpretations of G1 Ratchet and Ironhide. Right now its pics only and no prototype displays. These are looking promising. No word on what the price will be.

Sonicron by BTS Toys. This may be released already. No mystery who this is supposed to be. I may get one if it gets good reviews and the price is acceptable.

Scavenger figure, I think by TFClub. He appears to be Voyager size. Pics in the back does show other figs and they will combine. We talked to the guy manning the booth. He has confirmed that 3 of the Constructicons will be released, but at this point there’s no word on the other 3. He also places the price point at about $100 per fig after shipping. Details are so sketchy on this right now. At Voyager size, this Devastator would be so impressive combined. But it would totally suck if they made 3 and then stopped.

The above 2 pics are not 3rd party products. They are repainted customs being offered by this one booth. Nowhere else to put these pics so I lumped them here. You can see the guy that does these in the upper pic. He’s got impressive skills to say the least.

 

Contest Entries

 

There were many entries. I only took pics of the ones that grabbed my attention.

This last pic above, that was the winner.

 

Kre-O

 

When I first learned of Kre-O, I was thrilled. I loved Legos when I was a kid and I built TFs out of them. However, I think I read somewhere that these sets will NOT transform. What these sets offer is to build one mode, take it apart, and build the other mode. That kinda takes the fun out of Transformers. Quality of the bricks could also be an issue. Many have attempted to copy Legos, but none have reproduced the quality (I’m looking at you, Mega Blocks). I’ll read up on some reviews before I get these.

 

Cosplayers

 

I only managed to snap 2 pics of Cosplayers. I saw many others but were too lazy to take pics. Some were real creative. Definitely better Cosplaying at this Con than the 09 Con.

This Movie Starscream has got to be the best TF cosplaying I’ve ever seen!

 

Current and Upcoming Hasbro Figures

 

All store exclusives in this pic. I already got the Prime and Comettor 2-pack. Will also get Leadfoot and the Terradive repaint. Undecided about the rest.

More store exclusives. I have the blue Sideswipe repaint.

Definitely getting US version of MP Rodimus, even though I already have the Japanese version. US version will include the Targetmaster figure, and I’m hoping the flaws are corrected, like the Japanese 2nd release.

Here’s my chance to get Unicron! He will retail for $59.99. Looks like he’s got a more Movie accurate head mold too.

Current Reveal the Shield figs. I’ve got the bottom row. Still trying to find Grapple.

I’ve got all of these, except Mindset and Fallback. Amazon was selling Wreck-Gar for $14.99 right before BotCon started. I wasted no time buying one. They are all sold out now, I should have bought more. I’ll post about this later.

I now have Windcharger and Chopsaw (see Haul section below). I like to get the G1 legends figs. I haven’t seen them anywhere, other than BotCon. Not gonna pay the markup that the dealers ask though.

Some Power Core Combiners on the top row. I’ve got all the Generations figs in the bottom row.

DOTM Scouts. So far I’ve only bought Sandstorm. The new ones are on the bottom row. Some of these have potential to be good.

More DOTM toys. Top row are the Human Alliance figs. I’ve bought Roadbuster. Haven’t opened him yet, but he’s looking good. More scouts on the bottom row.

Optimus Prime and Megatron from Transformers Prime. Really looking forward to these.

The other TF Prime figs. The Matrix packaging on the bottom will be a Comic-Con exclusive.

This is Ultimate Optimus Prime. It’s huge! Retail I believe is $89.99. I plan to get one.

DOTM Leader class figs. I’ve got Sentinel, and Bumblebee is available just about everywhere. Ironhide is looking promising.

DOTM Voyager figs. I have Shockwave and Skyhammer. Might get this Prime with the ax too.

More DOTM toys. I’ve got Prime and Megs at the bottom. Will also get Thundercracker when I see him. Some dealers already had him at BotCon.

 

My BotCon 2011 Haul

 

No trip to any anime/toy/comic convention is complete without acquiring some loot. And so I proudly present my acquisitions from BotCon 2011:

• Windcharger, Chopsaw, Breacher, Sunspot, Firetrap, Backfire – These were purchased as a set of 6 for $48 at the Hasbro booth. That comes to $8 per fig. Hardcore fans will tell you that the prize here is Windcharger. And that was pretty much the reason I bought the set. Most dealers ask $40+ for just Windcharger, so I figure $48 bucks for 6 figs is not too bad. Hasbro knows how to milk it though, this is one way to rid figs that don’t sell. I’ve seen the other 5 figs go for $5 sometimes. But anyway, Breacher was new when I bought him, I just forgot to take the pic. I’ve also opened Sunspot and I checked out Gemini’s Windcharger. All 3 are good figs, so I don’t regret buying this set at all.
• TF United Megatron – I have the first Classic Megatron released in the US, back in 2006. However, I don’t like his Nerfy colors and I’ve always wanted one that was more G1. In the 09 Con, I thought about buying the Henkei version for $50, but in the end decided not to. On Saturday when we lined up to get into the Con, we saw a Devastator costume with a Henkei Meg attached to the shoulder. This gave me the idea to re-look for either a Henkei Meg or a United Meg. One booth had many United Megs for $50. I made an offer for $45 and the guy agreed. I now finally have a G1 looking Meg in the Classics-verse.
• Beast Wars Complete DVD Set by Shout! Factory – Beast Wars is a great series, in my opinion only 2nd to G1. Gemini introduced me to the show, and I watched all 3 seasons on his Rhino DVDs. I wanted my own set for some time now. Rhino Beast Wars DVDs went OOP for a while so the price was all marked up. News broke of a Shout! Factory version some months ago. I have their G1 Matrix of Leadership set and that was great, so I expect the Beast Wars set to be great as well. As of this writing, I don’t even see this set listed on Amazon, only the Season 1 set. So I’m happy to get one so early at $45 for the complete series.
• Encore Sky Lynx – I know, I mentioned before how I think Sky Lynx is one of the lamest Transformers ever. But the deal I see at BotCon was just too irresistible for a G1 guy. One dealer only asked $35 to get rid of these. There were about 10 units when I first saw the deal. I didn’t get one right away because I was still considering if I really wanted one. I came back 20 min later and only one was left! You can’t really see it in the pic, but the top right corner is kinda messed up. So I offered $30 and the seller took it. $30 for Sky Lynx is not bad at all. I’ll open him later and check out the walking action.
• Obi-Wan Transformer – Got him new for $8. This looks like the Ep 2 Jedi Starfighter. He’s only worth about $8. Not recommended at MSRP.
• Kre-O Optimus Prime figure – This I got free from the Kre-O booth. This is supposedly a convention exclusive. Some dealers were buying these at $5.

All pics below.

So that about wraps it up, my experience at BotCon 2011. I had a great time and I’m certainly looking forward to more. Chances are, BotCon will not be back in Pasadena next year. I was lucky to have it close to me in 09, and so soon again this year. Depending on where they have it next year, I might consider traveling, but that’s a post for another time. For now, I’m looking forward to the third movie.

I do have a small gripe about this year’s Con, and it’s that you have to buy tickets on each day. In 09 I bought tickets for both days on Sat. I wonder why they made this change. However, I do want to point out that there were no lines at all to buy the tickets on Sunday, so it’s not a big issue.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the BotCon organizers for making this such a great event. Long live Transformers and long live BotCon! Until All Are One… Transform and Roll Out!

BotCon 2011 is this coming weekend! I’m so stoked! It officially starts tomorrow, but I will only be there for General Admission which is Saturday and Sunday. I can’t wait for all the robots and the TransFans. Pasadena Convention Center is a great venue for the event. I will be doing some serious shopping. I need to make a list of figures that I’m looking for so I don’t miss anything. I might attend some panels. In the 09 Con on Sunday, Tyrese made a surprise visit! Who knows what surprises Hasbro has in stored for us.

Below I have some previous posts mentioning BotCon on this blog:
BotCon 2011
BotCon 2009 Pics Part 1
BotCon 2009 Pics Part 2
BotCon 2009 Pics Part 3

I will be sure to post pics from BotCon 2011 in a later post. TransFans, heed the call! Transform and Roll Out… for BotCon!

Over the weekend the GF and I went to a Korean place that we frequent for lunch. I mentioned to her that I found some new figures for Dark of the Moon at my local Walmart. She knew of a Walmart near where we ate, so she suggested we take a look. She didn’t know exactly where it was, but a quick search on my Droid X led the way. And her hunch was right! I found a whole bunch of DOTM figures! The shelves were stacked so full, I had to snap some pics. Here they are.
 

 

The above shows the sections where they kept Voyager and Deluxe figures. They also had a smaller section for the Scout figures, and another where they had the Leader figures. So yeah, 4 sections overall for the DOTM toys. I thought I was in TF heaven. The GF says she’s never seen my eyes light up so big before, haha. Anyway, I came away with Sentinel Prime, Optimus Prime, and Sandstorm.

The following Monday I decided to do a hunt on my own near my work. I’m glad I did because I really hit the mother lode! First stop was TRU. I walked to the TF aisle and immediately I see some DOTM stuff. But I noticed they also had some new Generations stuff, so I looked through that first. Lo and behold, I found me some Warpaths!

After I grabbed these 2 I started to go through what they had of the DOTM stuff. They had Topspin, which I didn’t see before, so I took one. Also, TRU was doing a special where if you buy $25 or more in TF, you get a free Commander class Optimus Prime (the one with the 3D glasses). Not that I really care for the figure, but if it’s free I’ll take it.

Next comes Target. This Target is right next to TRU so I just walked over. Here I found Shockwave and Skyhammer. I took the only ones they had.

I also saw a nice looking Powerglide. This is Commander class, like the 3D glasses Prime. I guess Commander class is bigger than Legend but smaller than Scout. The name doesn’t make a whole lot of sense if you ask me. Anyway, this Powerglide looks so G1 I had to have it, so I got it.

Not sure what is meant by Cyberverse, but whatever.

That was a lot of TFs over the course of a few days. I may be experiencing TF overload, but it’s all good. DOTM toys are officially available to the masses, so get them now! Transform and Roll Out!

News have been spreading here and there that toys from the third Transformers movie, Dark of the Moon, are spotted in the stores. On Friday I made a trip to Walmart, and sure enough, I saw some deluxe DOTM Mechtech figures in the TF aisle. They only had deluxe and nothing bigger, but it was still good to see them so early, nearly 2 months before the release of the movie. The figures I saw included Bumblebee, Crankcase, Skids, Starscream, and Roadbuster. Roadbuster looked kinda cool so I picked him up. He transforms into a NASCAR type car and he’s actually an official NASCAR endorsed product. Not that I’m a NASCAR fan. Check out some pics.

On the same trip I also saw many of the newer Generations figures, including Wheeljack, Thundercracker, and Kup. There were rumors that some of these figs would never see the light of day in retail due to Hasbro’s recent distribution problems. I guess these rumors are unfounded, or maybe blown way out of proportion. I should’ve took a pic at the store. I’ll do that next time.

But yeah, DOTM toys are out! Let the hunts begin. Transform and Roll Out!

Last month I made an order from TFSource.com. The order was shipped through Fedex. I’m not the biggest fan of Fedex and this recent order has further reaffirmed that sentiment. I’ll spare you all the details of everything that went wrong with this shipment, but this afternoon it finally arrived. Every item in my order appears to be intact. Here’s what I got:

• Predaking 2010 Reissue Boxed Set by Takara
• BTS-03 G1 Prime Matrix of Leadership Upgrade Set by BTSToys
• TFX-04 Protector Trailer by FansProject
• TFX-05 Sidearm by FansProject

They shipped this in a pretty big box, though its not the biggest box I’ve received for ordering collectibles. Here’s a pic next to a soda can for size comparison.

TFSource is known for packing their items well and I would have to agree.

All items are brand new, but to save money I bought all C9 versions. As far as I can tell, the boxes for TFX-04, TFX-05, and BTS-03 all seem perfect. However, the box for the Predaking set is flawed. Below is a pic.

Notice the side of the box is kinda pushed out. There is a piece of tape holding the side panel in place. The tape looks factory to me, but I really don’t know. Not sure if a C10 would be better, and I’m not sure if Takara boxed them up bad or if TFSource messed with it. But regardless, I’m not too concerned since I plan on opening this set. I’m cool as long as there are no issues with the figures. As a kid I dreamed of owning the Predacons. In my youth, there was no way my parents would’ve bought me all 5 Predacons, and my allowance was next to nothing. There was a reissue set in 2005. This was around the time I got back into TFs. Most dealers asked between $150 to $200 for the set. That amount can seem like a lot when you’ve just started to buy TFS. So I hesitated, and before I knew it they were all sold out. 6 years and 350 TFs later, I’m now kinda desensitized to TF spending and I didn’t even blink when I chose to buy it this time. In retrospect I’m glad I didn’t buy the 2005 set, because I hear the 2010 set has die-cast and the 2005 set does not.

I am on a mission to have all the G1 Combiner sets. The figures could be G1 or reissue. I now have 4 Combiner teams complete: Combaticons (G1), Technobots (G1), Seacons (reissue), and now Predacons (reissue). I have some other figures of various teams from G1: Air Raid, Breakdown, Dragstrip, Dead End, and Seawing. Dead End is missing all accessories, and Seawing is kinda unnecessary since I got the complete Seacon set as a reissue. I’ll be looking for other Combiner figures, and I’m hoping Hasbro/Takara would do more reissues.

I’m looking forward to opening the other items as well. Actually, I already opened BTS-03 and I’m really liking this upgrade set. I like it so much I may review it in a future post. And I’ve heard nothing but good things about the Protector armor and Sidearm, so it’s a pretty sure bet I will be impressed with those.

As a sidebar, this is my 100th post on this blog. I’ve been enjoying the experience and I will keep this blog going for as long as I can. Long Live TFs! Transform and Roll Out!

The time has come for another exciting round of Before Carly! As always, I will start by what I think was the official description given by Seibertron:

“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.”

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 while you contemplate how does a geek like Spike get his freak on with all these babes. My theory is Perceptor was able to use Autobot technology to isolate some unknown human pheromones and Spike put those to use the best way he knows how.

Frequent users of WordPress.com will tell you that all JavaScript is locked out. Some fancy DHTML tags are also locked out. This forced me to use a lame way to reveal the name of the TF in previous editions of Before Carly (links appear below). However, CSS still works so I was able to leverage it to build a more intuitive way to reveal the answer. Hover the mouse over each girl’s name to see the name of the TF. Enjoy!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Links to previous posts of Before Carly are below:
Before Carly
Before Carly 2
Before Carly 3

Transform and Roll Out!