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Posts Tagged ‘Brainstorm’

FansProject Smart Robin Quick Review

February 26th, 2019 Comments off

Once in a while, I dig out older figures from their hiding places (read: stored in a closet or garage). I was looking for another figure, when I found FansProject Smart Robin in the same storage box. This figure was purchased back in April of 2014. I played with Smart Robin for a bit before he got stored. He hasn’t seen light since then.

Smart Robin is a 3P homage to Brainstorm, arguably the most famous Headmaster there is. Since it’s release, Hasbro has put out two official Brainstorm figures. One of them was a Walgreens exclusive. I bought Smart Robin before either of those. And yes, I would buy Smart Robin today, even if you already have any of the official figures.

As usual I will start with the mode that it comes packaged in.

Classic A stance.

Back view with and without weapon attachment. Very little back kibble.

Side view.

Smart robin is a well built figure with nice articulation. He can hold some good poses. He comes with twin guns, like he did in G1.

Close up of the face. I like the face mold, but it appears to be modeled more after the G1 toy. There’s a bit of paint smudge near both eyes. Other than that, paint job is nice. Obviously this will detach and transform into a Headmaster figure.

There is no working tech-spec that appears on the chest like G1 Brainstorm. Oh well. That was kinda gimmicky anyway.

With some other modern Brainstorm figures: Generations 30 voyager on the left, Titans Return deluxe (Walgreens exclusive) on the left. Smart Robin is just a bit taller than deluxe size. I think this is a good size to scale with MP class figures.

Transformation to jet mode is some of the most innovative that I have seen in quite a while. Two mechanisms are noteworthy. The first is that the wings are entirely compacted into the legs, and they fold out for jet mode. The other is that the body collapses onto itself from the sides, kind of like an accordion. To go to jet mode, this part is stretched out. It sounds hokey when I describe it in words, but trust me it’s cool. The jet looks a bit different from how Brainstorm looked in G1. But I like this update. The G1 jet shape is too bulky for today’s standards and I applaud FansProject to give him a more sleek look.

Jet mode at a different angle.

Rear view of the jet.

Directly from the front.

Cockpit opens and the Headmaster can sit inside.

Bottom view.

Retractable front landing gear.

Rear landing gear, one retracted and out left out.

With other Brainstorms in jet mode.

All in all, Smart Robin is a solid tribute to Brainstorm. He’s fun to play with and transform. He’s well built. Articulation is great in robot mode, and cohesively tight in alt mode. Scale wise, I would say he’s more MP. Yeah some fans may say this is more CHUG, but I disagree. In robot mode, he’s about the same height as MP Sideswipe or MP Wheeljack, and that’s how tall I imagine Brainstorm to be. Some of the other 3P Headmasters produced (such as MakeToys Hardhead) are way too big, even for MP. Here is a pic from an old post, where I have Smart Robin next to MP Bluestreak and MP G2 Sideswipe. Determine for yourself.

You would be smart to purchase Smart Robin. Transform and Roll Out.
 

Categories: Pics, Toy Reviews

Transformers Purchased in November 2016

July 31st, 2017 Comments off

November of 2016 is filled with some TF goodness. Focus your optics on the figures below and observe.

  • Titans Return Brainstorm, Walgreens, $18.99

  • Titans Return Brawn, Target, $4.99
  • Titans Return Nightbeat, Target, $4.99

  • Titans Return Chromedome, Walmart, $9.88

  • Titans Return Highbrow, Walmart, $9.88

  • Titans Return Mindwipe, Walmart, $9.88

  • Titans Return Wolfwire, Walmart, $9.88

  • Titans Return Astrotrain, Target, $24.99

  • Combiner Wars Sky Lynx, Ross, $12.99

  • Combiner Wars Skywarp, HasbroToyshop via eBay, $22.49

All purchases in November of 2016 belongs to either Titans Return or Combiner Wars. Not a single third party purchase, which was strange considering how many 3P products I have been buying. There are 10 purchases for the month, for a total of 8 figures and 2 accessories (I don’t count the 2 Titan Masters as full fledged figures). All for less than $130. That’s not bad.

Titans Return is definitely continuing in a good direction with some heavy Headmaster action. First up in the month is Brainstorm. I found this figure early in the month. And as rumors have long confirmed, Brainstorm is a Walgreens exclusive! Yes you read that right. Freakin’ Walgreens. Why Hasbro would enter an exclusivity deal with Walgreens makes no sense whatsoever. But I’m glad I believed the rumors and checked Walgreens with regular attention during that time period. There are several Walgreens within short driving distance of where I work and where I live. I was really happy when I found him at this one particular Walgreens that I never go to. The price tag of $18.99 kinda hurt considering it’s only a deluxe size fig, but he was hard to find so I bit the bullet on this one.

Brainstorm is a minor remold of Blurr. I didn’t realize it early on when I looked at the pics. It was only after repeated viewing of the pics that this finally dawned on me. I already commented on the awesomeness of Blurr, so I won’t repeat all that stuff for Brainstorm. He’s built just as well, and there are enough molding differences that a separate purchase feels justified. The detachable piece at the front of the vehicle is obviously different for Brainstorm in that it’s molded more to look like the front of his iconic jet mode. Blurr’s long hand cover extensions are changed for Brainstorm, and Brainstorm has wings at the shoulders while Blurr has none. Blurr’s iconic piece on top of the alt mode, which usually transforms to the top of his head, is now replaced with a simple tail fin for Brainstorm. Titan Master for the two are obviously different, each made to look like the head of the character. And finally, Brainstorm has different stickers on the legs, placed at different positions. All in all, Hasbro made enough changes off of the same mold that having two characters here is warranted. I’m glad Hasbro didn’t just give us a straight up repaint with only the head change. Below is a pic comparing the two. Get Brainstorm if you see one. You’ll thank me later.

There are other versions of this deluxe Brainstorm that you could get. There is the Japanese Legend version, and there is an exclusive convention version (not sure if it’s SDCC or some other con). They each look different in terms of paint scheme and sticker layout, but they each have their origin in what they are modeled after.

Next up are two Titan Masters which I never opened, even as of this writing: Brawn and Nightbeat. I’m generally not a fan of buying these Titan Masters, as I don’t see why you would want to swap heads with bodies. They never did that in the cartoons. But I got Brawn and Nightbeat because they are famous characters from G1. In fact, some customizers have took this Titan Master Nightbeat head and stuck it on the body of Generations Thrilling 30 Nightbeat. I may attempt that myself, so I’ll get a true Headmaster in the modern era. I’m not sure what I will use Brawn for.

Titans Return continue with more purchases in the month. On one trip to Walmart, I found all wave 2 deluxe figs in one shot: Chromedome, Highbrow, Wolfwire, and Mindwipe. All 4 are must haves for me, because they were all original Headmasters in G1. When I brought these 4 to checkout, they each rang up $9.88. That’s right, only $9.88! I thought for sure Walmart must have messed up. I didn’t want Walmart to have the chance to correct any goofs, so I quickly finished checkout and ran out of the store like a Decepticon in full retreat. Turns out, this “goof” was nationwide. I had friends in other cities reporting the same prices. In retrospect I’m not entirely sure if this was a goof. It’s possible Walmart really were selling these at discounted prices. But as of this writing, all TR deluxe figures are around $15 at Walmart. I have seen these 4 figs before this trip to Walmart. I saw them at Walgreens when I was looking for Brainstorm. But I was not gonna pay $18.99 for each of these at Walgreens.

Let’s start with the Autobots. Chromedome and Highbrow are both pretty good figures. Chromedome has a fun transformation. The chest and arms transformation is fairly standard for a robot-to-car figure, but the leg transformation is pretty unique. It’s kind of got that standard Combiner Wars deluxe fig leg transformation, but Chromedome offers a twist in how the windshield is formed. In robot mode, it’s at the back of the legs, forming the heels. In alt mode, it combines and folds forwards, forming the windshield covering the Titan Master driver. Very cool. Chromedome’s head details is also superbly done. Highbrow is another fun figure. His transformation feels simpler than Chromedome’s. One interesting transformation mechanism is pulling down the waist when you go from robot to helicopter. Then you rotate and inwardly fold up the legs, like some CW deluxe figs. Rest of the transformation is pretty standard fare (arms to the sides, fold out the cockpit from the back). Highbrow also has amazing details to the head mold, making him look like the G1 character. Both Chromedome and Highbrow are well built. Their robot modes look nice, and their alt modes come together well with no issues. Both their alt modes provide space for the driver/pilot. Chromedome and Highbrow are both recommended purchases in the Titans Return line.

With the addition of Brainstorm, Chromedome, and Highbrow, and Hardhead from the last wave, I now have all the original Autobot Headmasters from Season 4. Check out pics below. It’s a dream come true to have modern interpretations to these iconic G1 characters. Kudos to Hasbro.

Now for the Decepticons. The two deluxe figs this month are Wolfwire and Mindwipe. Wolfwire was called Weirdwolf in G1, and I’m gonna guess that the name change is for legal reasons. Weirdwolf is such a better name as it’s a wordplay on werewolf. Anyways, TR Wolfwire is the best of the three Decepticon animal Headmasters so far. He’s got an awesome looking wolf mode that has to be seen to be believed. I love the head mold of the wolf, with jaw biting action that will seriously hurt some Autobots. There are enough articulation in the wolf arms and legs for some good poses. Both the gun and sword accessories have places in alt mode; the sword becomes the tail, and the gun can be placed on top of the wolf’s back near the rear. The Titan Master can sit inside the gun, or can be placed inside the main body cavity, accessible from a hatch on top of the back. Transformation to robot mode is pretty straightforward. The wolf arms and legs become the robot arms and legs. I generally don’t like this motif, because I think it’s a lazy transformation. Wolfwire is certainly guilty of this, but he’s got some clever mechanics for the rest of his transformation that make up for it. The way that the main body transforms deserves special mention. From alt mode to robot mode, Wolfwire has this unqiue lower abdomen mechanism where the body collapses on itself, making for a shorter main body that is more proportionate in robot mode. The Decepticon logo is painted very nicely on the chest. I wish faction logos were done this well all the time. If you only had the funds for one deluxe Decepticon Headmaster in the TR line, get Wolfwire.

The other deluxe Decepticon this month is Mindwipe. I have G1 Mindwipe. It was a birthday gift from my cousin. I still have it to this day, in pretty good shape too. About a year ago, I bought this 3P Mindwipe from FansProject called Sigma L. I love FansProject, but I thought Sigma L is only ok, not bad, not great. So I was kinda hoping that TR Mindwipe would do the character more justice. There are some interesting things going on for TR Mindwipe, but as a whole I would say he’s one of the more lackluster figures in the Titans Return line. Let’s start with the better mode: the robot mode. He looks good in this mode. He’s well proportioned and he’s got plenty of articulation. He’s got a great head sculpt. The joints are at the right tolerance. Even the wings on his back are of the right size. They’re big enough in appearance, but not too big that it’s distracting or get in the way. The Decepticon logo is beautifully painted on the chest. There’s one big weakness in robot mode though, and that’s the back. The bat head has nowhere to go, and kinda just hangs off the back. You can position it so the bat head is hanging off the butt instead, but I think that’s a even worse look. Transformation to bat is quite clever. The arms become the feet, and the legs open up to reveal the wings. The transformation really is quite cool. However, bad construction plague this figure, much like many of the other TR deluxe figures. The right wing is really loose on my figure in alt mode. And the accessory that plugs in to become the tail, it doesn’t plug in too nicely. One slight touch and it comes off. This figure could have been so great if the construction was more solid. And if they designed a place for the bat head in robot mode. Like if it somehow went inside the Headmaster chamber.

Below is a pic of all the original Decepticon Non-Horrorcon Headmsters from Season 4. Skullsmasher (Skullcruncher) was from July of 2016.

Now for the only Triple Changer of the month: Astrotrain. TR Astrotrain is a repaint of TR Sentinel Prime. As of this writing, I have sold my Sentinel Prime, because I felt he’s just too damn orange. And because this mold was meant to be Astrotrain anyway. Yes Hasbro screwed me with their double dip tactics by releasing the more famous character later using the same mold. If only I had more willpower, I would not continue to fall for this.

Let’s take a look at the shuttle mode first. In this mode, Astrotrain is not the standard NASA space shuttle that we’re accustomed to. The overall body is more flat, with a large Titan Master compartment toward the top and rear. It looks more like a Cybertron shuttle, or something from futuristic sci-fi. All the panels tab in securely in this mode, something that worked less well on Sentinel Prime. The retractable landing gears are a nice touch. Astrotrain is decked out in his iconic purple and grey, with touches of black here and there. Transformation from shuttle to robot is super straightforward. It’s almost painfully simple. Astrotrain looks good in this mode. Body proportions are nicely balanced. His head mold is terrific, and looks exactly like Astrotrain should. I should point out that the Japanese version of this figure has better paint apps, though. The US version is light grey, while the Japanese version is dark grey. The dark grey is much more accurate to G1, both in terms of the show and the toy. This fact becomes a lot more obvious in robot mode, when looking at Astrotrain from the front, he is mostly grey. Transformation to train mode from this mode is interesting to say the least. First you pull the legs apart to either side, like if Astrotrain is doing the splits. From there it becomes pretty obvious; arms raise up and attach on top of the legs on either side, some minor panel flaps on the legs, flip over the feet so the train head comes out, and position the back Titan Master compartment on top of the train. This is another mode where TR Astrotrain got an upgrade. He’s no longer the old-school steam locomotive, but now more of a bullet train. Astrotrain looks ok in this mode. Sort of long and skinny, but I guess that’s how a train should be. This is another mode where the Japanese colors look much better than the US version, especially if you had both figures side by side. My overall impression of this figure is that he’s ok. He’s a good modern update. But I think deep down, I still want a Astrotrain with a proper NASA shuttle mode and a true steam locomotive mode. My hardcore G1 preferences is taking over here. I can live with the fact that he’s a Headmaster, but I still prefer him not being one.

This month also has Combiner Wars purchases. Yes I said Combiner Wars. By this time, the CW line has been long dead. But I did miss out on some figures in this line, and I was fortunate enough to find them this month.

The first CW fig this month is Sky Lynx, and he’s the 2nd space shuttle this month. But unlike Astrotrain, he’s still a NASA shuttle, with ground transport. This Sky Lynx looks G1 through and through. However, he only transforms from the space shuttle and ground transport mode to his full on griffin-like robot mode (and combined mode, but more on that later). In other words, he doesn’t separate into two components (the dino-bird/shuttle and lynx/transport) like he did in G1. I had a G1 re-issue of Sky Lynx briefly, for about two years, before I sold it (and actually made a slight profit on this). The G1 toy was kinda gimmicky. It was done by the same company that also did the original toy that would become Omega Supreme. I never had G1 Sky Lynx growing up, so my curiosity prompted me to buy the re-issue as an adult. He’s fun for a while, but the gimmicks wear off fast.

G1 Sky Lynx was not well received at all back in the 80s, both in terms of the character and the toy. However, in the days of CW, fans were singing praises about CW Sky Lynx, and he was probably the hardest figure to find in the line. I pretty much gave up looking for CW Sky Lynx. Until one day in Nov of 2016 when I found him at Ross. That’s right, Ross! Hasbro’s strange distribution rears its ugly head again. There was a time (I think around 2010 and 2011) when I regularly went to Ross and other discount stores, because new figures from Hasbro would go there instead of the usual places.

Combiner Wars Sky Lynx is not a bad figure, but I wouldn’t put him in the must-buy category either. Like all the other body component figures in the CW line, Sky Lynx is not perfect. They all have at least one mode that I consider lacking. I would say the best one in CW is Silverbolt (and his repaints). Sky Lynx would probably be the next best one. I like his alt mode, and he works well as a combiner body. But the griffin mode is just so-so. Still, the real value of this figure is having the ability to form Sky Reign. And that’s worth the price of admission, especially when admission price is only $12.99. Yes Ross is a good place to get TFs when you can find them. Below is a long over due pic of Sky Reign. All the limb components were bought in Feb of 2016.

Final purchase for the month is Leader class Skywarp. I already have the other two repaints of this figure, Leader Thundercracker and Starscream. So I was not gonna get Skywarp at full price. Around the end of Nov of 2016, I was vacationing in Cabo, attending a destination wedding. I think I opened the eBay app on my phone to check on one of my sales, and saw that Skywarp was on sale for half price! I wasted no time and got one. He’s just like the other 2, so I won’t go into detail. With Skywarp I have now completed the trio. Skywarp is my final purchase from the Combiner Wars line.

The pic below is for all the Decepticons this month. Autobots beware!

Whew! That was more TFs than I thought. Next month will wrap up 2016 with more Titans Return action. Til then… Transform and Roll Out.

 

Categories: On The Hunt, Pics

Transformers Purchased in December 2014

December 29th, 2015 Comments off

Happy Holidays! Today I am documenting all the TFs acquired back in Dec of 2014. I fully realize that’s one whole year ago. I know… I’m getting behind on my blogging. It’s just so hard to find the time. I am beginning to think I should make more frequent blog writing my new years resolution. But that’s a story for another day. Here are the TFs for the last month of 2014.

  • Transformers Prime Beast Hunters Prowl, Walgreens, $7.74

  • MakeToys M-F-B, BBTS.com, $12.99
  • DX9 004 Armor Set, BBTS.com, $44.99

  • Generations Thrilling 30 Brainstorm, BBTS.com, $26.99

TF Prime Beast Hunters Prowl is a repeat purchase. I got one back in June of 2014. The one this month was a random find at Walgreens. He’s rare, he was only $7.74, so I figured why not. I kept him unopened all this time. Maybe he will be worth something someday.

The DX9 004 Armor is for Age of Extinction Evasion Mode Optimus Prime. That figure is one of the first figs I got from the AoE line, and one of the best from that line. When I heard of a armor upgrade that would make him more like Powermaster Optimue Prime from the fifth toy season of G1, I was immediately intrigued. I never heard of DX9 at the time, but I looked at enough pics online to take a chance on this set. I am happy I bought the set. With the armor attached, the figure feels way more G1 like. I especially like the head mold. There are some tolerance issues though. The feet pieces are way too tight. You will need to either sand down the pegs on the feet pieces, or make the feet holes bigger on the figure. I only tried this upgrade set in robot mode. These same pieces also can attach in alt mode, but I didn’t try it.

The MFB from MakeToys is acronym for My First Blaster. I am told this weapon for Swerve makes an appearance in the comics by IDW. I won’t comment anymore as I’m no authority on the IDW-verse of TFs. The weapon itself is pretty cool. Be aware it does require some assembling. I’m a terrible model builder, so I already broke off one piece when assembling this. Also, this weapon is designed to go with MakeToys Trash-Talk, or their version of Swerve. This weapon will not operate with the official Hasbro Generations 30 version of Swerve (coincidentally also purchased in June of 2014). I bought it thinking that it would. The pegs are not the same size. Should have done my research first.

Last but not least, there is Generations Thrilling 30 Brainstorm. I first saw this at BotCon 2014. I could not believe my eyes when I saw this. I mean… if Hasbro was gonna venture into Headmasters, that opens up a whole world of possibilities on what they are willing to re-make in this modern era. I’m salivating just thinking about it! Anyways, Brainstorm is an excellent figure. He’s fairly simple in transformation, but in my opinion that’s a good thing. Modern TFs are so darn complicated sometimes that I just want something I can pick up and play. Brainstorm fits that bill. If I have the figure handy, I can sit there and transform him back and forth repeatedly, like I did all my TFs when I was a kid. Both modes look nice. As a voyager figure, he’s bigger than some of the third party Brainstorms that have been produced (such as Smart Robin). Oh, by the way, there are two versions of this figure. I got the fixed version, code 42791. Click here for more detail.

OK, that does it for the figs in 2014. Now I can move onto 2015… in 2016. I know… I suck. But I will get this done and get up to date like I used to be. Transform and Roll Out!

Categories: On The Hunt, Pics

2014 Year in Review and Happy 2015

January 28th, 2015 Comments off

Happy New Year! I usually do these new year’s posts right around the turn of the year, either on New Years Eve or New Years Day. But of course life gets in the way, and so here is the annual New Years post delayed til the end of January. Better late than never I always say.

I’m conflicted as to how I feel about 2014. For starters, we had another TF movie. Age of Extinction was quite the paradox in movie history. It was the highest grossing film worldwide for 2014, yet that the same time Rotten Tomatoes report a lowly rating of only 18%. And compared to previous movies, I would say that the AoE toys as a whole are rather disappointing. I think Hasbro recognized that most mainstream fans may be sick of another Michael Bay full-length feature, and in response did not make as many toys. Personally I don’t think I can take anymore “Bayhems”. I sincerely wish another director would take over the franchise. Asking for popular and proven sci-fi action directors, such as J.J.Abrams, Joss Whedon, or Christopher Nolan, is probably out of the question. And the movie studio would not want someone who would take a dramatic departure from what Bay has laid out. Though a little outdated, this article suggests 6 directors who could potentially take over the TF movie franchise. I would add Justin Lin (of Fast and Furious fame) and Brad Bird (Mission Impossible 4) to this list.

2014 also saw a record number of 3rd party transforming robots offered. If you’re only into official Hasbro and Takara products, this wouldn’t matter to you. But if you’re reading this blog, chances are you are at least familiar with what I’m talking about. Just a few years back, all you had to know as far as the 3rd party scene was FansProject and TFC Toys. Those days are long gone. There are probably about 50 3rd parties out there, all doing its own thing and wanting a piece of your hard-earned TF dollars. And there appears to be no slow down. I sometimes fear that the market for 3rd party products are near saturation. Let’s face it: this is a niche market. Third party figs are expensive. Having so many companies vying for a piece of the pie… I don’t know how sustainable this is.

OK, now let’s look at some statistics for 2014. Here is the break down:

  • 21 figures from Age of Extinction
  • 8 figures from Transformers Prime
  • 4 Masterpiece figs
  • 1 figure from Fall of Cybertron
  • 32 figures from Generations Thrilling 30
  • 2 TFCC or convention exclusive figures
  • 25 Third Party products

That’s a grand total of 93 figures for the year. It comes to 7.75 figures a month. Just slightly more than 2013. Notice there are 25 3rd party products! 25! That’s gotta be a record for me. I wonder if this trend will continue in 2015.

I’ll end this post with a few collection pics of some of my favorites from 2014.


Age of Extinction Grimlock, Slash, Slug, Strafe, and Scorn.


Maketoys Paladin Chaos (tribute to The Fallen)


Masterpiece Streak. Released in 2013, but actively played with in 2014. Shown here holding his standard rifle and a pistol from a Gears of War figure that I no longer have.


Age of Extinction Drift and Hound


Masterpiece Wheeljack and Bumblebee


Generations Brainstorm and Jetfire


Mastermind Creations Feral Rex (Predaking), looking awesome combined!

Happy 2015! Transform and Roll Out!

Categories: Pics

Transformers Purchased in April 2014

October 17th, 2014 Comments off

April has traditionally been a slow month as far as Transformers purchases go. This year was no exception.

  • FansProject Smart Robin, toyarena.com, $68.95

  • Masterpiece G-2 Ver. Lambor, hlj.com, $50.85

The only figure here that was found at retail was Whirl. I remember I was pretty excited when I saw him, since it has been some time since I saw any TF that I wanted in store. I didn’t know this before I bought it, but Whirl has a third mode. You would only know this if you looked at the instructions (or if you looked at the box carefully where it says 3 modes – duh). Hasbro calls this the Heloped Mode, which is a half-way mode between robot and helicopter, kinda like a GERWALK in Macross. I have not transformed the figure to this mode, since I really don’t see the point. Still, Whirl is a good figure. I like both the robot mode and the helicopter mode. And I’m glad that Hasbro is giving us all the Wreckers. Here’s to hoping they will someday make Broadside.

Smart Robin is a FansProject homage to Brainstorm, a Headmaster from G1 Season 4. As of this writing, it is confirmed that Hasbro is making an official Voyager sized Brainstorm, set to be released in about a month. But back in April I don’t think anyone really knew this. I had a chance to play with Smart Robin last Dec, and back then I knew I had to have one. The transformation of this figure is ingenious. It’s hard to describe in words, but this figure utilizes some transformation mechanisms that are both clever and functional. The end result is a figure that looks good in both modes, and at the same time fun to play with. I would recommend this figure wholeheartedly if I didn’t know about the Hasbro figure that will come out soon, since the official Brainstorm will be larger, cheaper, and potentially awesome. Though at this point it’s hard to say if the Hasbro figure will be better than Smart Robin. I’ll reserve final judgement until I have the Hasbro Brainstorm. Oh, this is the first and only time I have used ToyArena. I was forced to try them for this figure since my usual vendors were all sold out of Smart Robin. ToyArena is a good store. I don’t use them as much since they are based in CA, which means I gotta pay sales tax. But I’ll keep them in mind for the future as a backup store.

Last but not least is the Masterpiece G2 Sideswipe (or Lambor in Japan). This a Takara import figure, and a US release is not likely. I have done reviews of both Sideswipe and Red Alert so I won’t go too deep into it. Imagine taking G1 Sideswipe and reversing the colors of black and red where they are, and you have G2 Sidewipe. Fr MP G2 Sideswipe, Takara gave him a new face mold, 2 different looking guns, some spiked wheels for the shoulder attachment, and a nice looking sword. For the decals, you have the option of using the G1 or G2 Autobot insignia. Very cool! I still have my original G2 Sideswipe from back in the 90s. Maybe someday I’ll put these 2 figs side by side for a past and present shot.

All 3 figures appear for display in this post.

Transform and Roll Out.

Categories: On The Hunt, Pics

Transformers on Display, September 2014

September 3rd, 2014 Comments off

Earlier this year I bought a glass display case for all my TFs. I have a small shelf in my bedroom for such a purpose, but there are too many robots I want to display. So I got the Detolf case from Ikea.

It took some effort to put this case together. But in the end the display looks quite nice. Here is what I currently have displayed.

Here on the top shelf is a random collection of Autobots. On display is CHUG Sideswipe with the Beelzeboss Heroic Duo Custom Kit (v2) upgrade, MP Streak, MP Prowl (hiding in the back in alt mode), MP G2 Sideswipe, FansProject Smart Robin, TF Prime Voyager Ultra Magnus, and a Mega Bloks minifig from their Battleship line.

On the 2nd shelf is Maketoys Giant in the combined form, PCC Heavytread with Maketoys Mobine Armor Marine upgrade kit, Generations Thrilling 30 Dreadwing (hiding in the back in alt mode), and another Mega Bloks minifig from the same Battleship set (the GF insists I put these here).

Here on the 3rd shelf is my Wreckers team! I’m so glad Hasbro is taking the time to please us true fans, as most figures here are official products. On display here are Generations Thrilling 30 Springer, Sandstorm, Whirl, and Roadbuster. And from Mech Ideas are Apex and Geminus.

And here on the bottom shelf are some random stuff. FansProject Intimidator appears here in combined form. Other figures include a Samus Aran Figma, Nickelodeon TMNT Donatello riding a a Maisto motorcycle, and a Diarobo figure that transforms into a Japanese garbage truck. The teddy bear and shot glasses are random contributions from the GF.

I will probably rotate out the figures in here every so often, when I want some new stuff to look at. Til next time… Transform and Roll Out!

Categories: Pics