Welcome to this special edition of another St Patrick’s Day celebration post. Here in the SF Bay Area, the coronavirus outbreak has forced local governments to implement a “Shelter in Place” order. It’s not a full lockdown, but pretty close. Details here. I’ve been ordered to work from home.

This is a St Patrick’s Day unlike any other. No one will be out. Bars are forced to close. But that won’t stop me from making another St Patrick’s Day post with my green Transformers. Seriously, I got nothing better to do at home in quarantine.

Back row, left to right: Masterpiece Acid Storm, Studio Series Brawl

Front row, left to right: X-Transbots Klaatu (Metallic version), Generations Thrilling 30 Acid Storm, WFC Siege Springer

I keep forgetting to include the 2 Acid Storm figures on previous St Patrick’s Day posts. The MP was purchased in 2013, and the Generations legend fig in 2015. They get to shine today.

Brawl is one of the better figs from the Movie SS line. If you dig movie figs, get this one.

War for Cybertron Siege Springer is the best Springer released by HasTak, probably even better than Generations Thrilling 30 Springer. He is now in mass retail as of this writing. Go get yours.

X-Transbots Klaatu is obviously a homage to Cosmos. This is a great figure! He is superbly constructed with tight ratchets. Figure looks screen accurate in both modes. And what an awesome paint job! I’m so glad I got the metallic version. If you want an MP Cosmos for your collection, get Klaatu.

Links to previous St Patrick’s Day posts.

2019
2018
2015
2013
2012
2011

We need Perceptor and Ratchet to give us a vaccine to COVID-19 stat!

Stay indoors and stay safe everyone. Wash your hands. Transform and Roll Out (well, don’t literally go out).
 

After a LONG hiatus from me documenting my monthly TF purchases, I’m gonna continue here. There’s a lot of TF purchase action in June. Let’s get started.

• Studio Series Brawl, amazon.com, $29.99

• Studio Series Megatron, amazon.com, $29.99

• Power of the Primes Snarl, Target, $16.99

• Power of the Primes Moonracer, Target, $16.99

• Titans Return Trypticon, Amazon seller, $103.65

• Zeta Toys Flyfire, gift

• NBK Bulldozer, showz.com, $9.99

• ToyWorld Constructor, chosenprime.com, $469.99

Brawl

SS 12 Brawl is my third movie Brawl figure. The first one is the original leader class figure that made 2 of my top ten lists (most difficult and broken). The 2nd one is the original deluxe figure, which I never opened. I really don’t have too much recollection of leader class Brawl. It’s a big figure, sitting at the bottom of a box in a closet somewhere. That’s the problem when you have too many Transformers; you just don’t have enough time for all of them.

It’s inevitable that there will be comparisons of this SS 12 Brawl to leader class Brawl from the first movie. And I can’t do that compare here. All I can do is rate SS 12 Brawl on its own.

Like all offerings in the Studio Series line, Brawl is packaged in robot mode, and comes with cardboard backing that may be used as the movie backdrop. In Brawl’s case, he gets a very fitting graphic of the battle in Mission City from the first movie.

Brawl’s robot mode much resembles his movie appearance. He only appeared in the first movie, but the toy designers captured his look in this figure quite well. Construction of the figure feels good. Joints are at the right tolerance, nothing too tight or too loose. There is a lot going on in this figure as far as weapons, but nothing feels out of place as the solid construction is able to keep it all together. Most of the fiddly bits clean up quite well in robot mode. And if something is dangling around, it is more intended as part of the design and not a production flaw. The back of the robot cleans up nicely too (which I should have took a pic). There’s not a lot of unwanted kibble on the back, so kudos to HasTak.

Brawl is a bit limited in the articulation category. Part of it is because of his design; he’s very bulky with lots of kibble, and that in itself limits articulation. The design of the feet, while movie accurate, don’t allow for any ankle tilt, which hinders poses. The hands are molded directly into the forearms, and don’t come out. Arm articulation as a whole suffers from all the weapons and extra kibble present all around.

Transformation to tank mode is fun. I don’t remember any other figure quite like SS 12 Brawl, not even the original leader class figure. The leg transformation is fairly straightforward. Arms form the tank turret, and they come together in an interesting and unique way. The hardest part to describe is the chest. This section folds on itself several times, and there are other minor pieces that complement this scheme to produce a robot to tank transformation unlike anything else we’ve seen before. SS 12 definitely gets points for transformation originality.

In my opinion, the thank mode looks really good. This is on par to the looks of the leader class Brawl figure in alt mode. In the movie, I think there is only one scene of Brawl in tank mode. It was when he was first summoned along with the rest of the Decepticons. This tank mode looks extremely close to that tank on screen. There are no working tank treads here, but I wasn’t expecting that for a $30 toy. With all weapons attached in tank mode, Brawl really looks like the menacing ground assault Decepticon that he is.

Brawl comes with 2 accessories: a missile launcher with 4 missiles, and a claw type weapon. Add to that all the molded-in weapons (the main cannon, 2 sub cannons, and 2 4-set missiles, all on the turret), he will give Age of Extinction Hound a run for his money as the TF with the most arsenal. I recommend SS 12 Brawl with no reservations.

Megatron

I never realized something until I started doing this post, and I had to confirm by looking at my TF List: I only have 2 movie Megatrons! Considering how many movie Optimus Primes I have, that’s almost a crime. The two movie Megatrons I have is Dark of the Moon voyager fuel truck Megatron, and The Last Knight voyager jet Megatron.

I never got the original jet leader class Megatron from the first movie, or the ROTF leader class tank Megatron. I didn’t want them as a silent protest to how Michael Bay completely butchered the G1 roots of Megatron and created this weird amalgamation that is supposed to represent the Decepticon leader. In retrospect, I kind of regret not buying them. From a pure toy perspective, they were unique, and Hasbro never released anything like them again.

So when I heard that the Studio Series are coming out with a new take on ROTF Megatron, I had to look into it. Here is the figure in robot mode.

I’m never gonna warm up to the looks of movie Megatron. I’m a G1 die-hard that will never recognize this as Megatron. But that being said, and rating purely on the toy’s representation of the movie depiction, I love the look of SS 13 Megatron in robot mode. His proportions are very balanced, and HasTak captured that alien bug-like appearance of Megatron really well. I like the giant sword weapon that he has in the right arm. All the mechanical tentacles on the left arm gives me a satisfying yet creepy conception of what could happen if they got hold of unsuspecting Autobots (or any other kind of prey).

Construction of the figure is solid. Megatron has the articulation chops for a variety of poses, and the solid construction allows him to hold those poses. For the most part, he’s a kibble-free figure. That’s not easily done with a design like his. Much credit to HasTak here.

SS 13 ROTF Megatron is not too shabby in alt mode, either. I like the look of this alien tank. I’m not sure how close it looks to the movie, though I will admit that my recollection of ROTF the movie is faint at best. I honestly don’t even remember Megatron in alt mode, but I’m sure there are fans out there that will correct me.

I do feel like SS 13 Megatron is one of those figures that, if you haven’t transformed it for some time, it will throw you for a loop. That’s especially true for robot to alt mode. This Megatron tank is alien, so there’s not the usual earth mode cues to go on. Everthing does tab into place, however, so you know you didn’t do something right if the resulting alt mode feels more floppy than solid. I think for that reason, I didn’t like this piece at first. But he grew on me, and on subsequent transformations, I regard SS 13 Megatron as one of the better figures in the Studio Series line. This figure gets my recommendation.

Snarl

Continuing the trend of the Power of the Primes Dinobots, this month we get Snarl. Grimlock, Slug (aka Slag), and Swoop were released in January, while Sludge came around in March. Snarl completes everybody’s favorite quintet of dinos.

He comes in robot mode, like all the other PotP dinos.

I really like Snarl, and I am happy that HasTak has finally given him some official love by updating the G1 version of this character. But PotP Snarl is a mediocre figure in every sense of the word. Overall transformation is the same standard scheme that every G1 fan is familiar with, albeit updated with some modern mechanics. He comes with his classic sword, but no blaster. Poseability is sort of there, not great yet not bad. Construction of the figure is adequate. Some parts are a bit too loose in my opinion, but not so horrible that the figure can’t hold any poses on its own. The figure is somewhat playable. You think he would be easy to transform, and that’s true for the most part. But PotP Snarl is one of those figures that, if you haven’t touched it for a while, it will surprise you with transformation impediments here and there. Not because it’s hard, but because there are little mechanical details that you are supposed to remember, but you don’t because you either forgot or didn’t think it’s important.

The one good thing about PotP Snarl is that he looks good in both modes. Here he is in dino mode.

For a retail deluxe class figure, I think the detail on PotP Snarl is more than adequate. You won’t confuse this character with any other.

The 5 Dinobots will combine. I never tried this, but I might if I get bored enough. I have mentioned before that I wish they didn’t, because implementing combination mechanics means putting restrictions on other aspects of the figure, such as the dino modes, robot modes, and sizes of the figures. Grimlock at voyager size is fine, but I do wish the other Dinobots are bigger than deluxe.

If you got the other 4 dinos, then you will get this regardless of what I say. It’s hard to see anyone buying just Snarl and none of the others. But if that happens to be you, then you are indeed an original. Bravo.

Moonracer

HasTak has been releasing many Fembots in recent years. The female Autobots was something completely made up by the G1 show creators in a desperate attempt to win over more girls to the toyline. Whether that worked is anyone’s guess. But what it did do is create demand for toys of the Fembots among the hardcore G1 TF nerds.

HasTak loves you and has started creating toys of the Fembots in CHUG. In January of 2015, Generations Thrilling 30 Arcee and Chromia were introduced. Then PotP Elita-1 was released in March of this year. This month we get Moonracer, one of the original 4 Fembots in the G1 episode “The Search for Alpha Trion”.

First let’s take a look at Moonracer in robot mode. Looking from the front, the figure is not half bad. She’s got a distinctive female body shape, and the head mold resembles her cartoon design fairly well.

But looking at Moonracer from the side, this figure becomes a total fail. Look at that huge backpack. Moonracer has got some serious back junk. Maybe that’s how Powerglide likes it.

Transformation to alt mode is pretty easy and intuitive, so I’m won’t describe it too much. Moonracer is a bit guilty of being a shell-former. Not G1 Scourge bad, but still a shell-former nonetheless. That huge backpack should have clued you in.

The alt mode itself is not badly done. I don’t remember how Moonracer really looked in alt mode, and I’m not going to look it up for the purpose of this post. Power of the Primes Moonracer has a vehicle mode that looks truly Cybertronian, and that works well enough in my book.

So do I recommend Moonracer? If it wasn’t for that giant backpack issue, I would classify this figure as good. But as it stands, Moonracer is still a decent toy. The robot mode is not half bad, as long as you’re only looking at it from the front. Poseability of the figure in this mode is solid. I have no complaints about the alt mode. But if you’re even remotely thinking about buying Moonracer, you are probably a G1 fan that grew up with the cartoons. If that’s the case, you will go buy this figure no matter what I say. Having these characters come to life 30+ years later is a G1ers dream come true. Go buy the figure and fully engage yourself in the TF nerdgasm that is Moonracer.

Trypticon

I first reported on the news of a Trypticon release back in March of 2017. I think in the fall of 2017, Titans Return Trypticon was released. It’s generally agreed that this is a good fig, though reports of hips breaking from the super tight hip ratchets put a damper on things. There are many proposed fixes out there; Google the topic and you’re bound to find some good ones.

With Metroplex and Fortress Maximus, the prices quickly dropped after only a few months of its release. I’m not sure why that is. My theory is that there are only so much demand for such figures. Titans class figures that are clearly G1 inspired would only appeal to the most hardcore G1 enthusiasts, willing to part with hundreds of dollars on a single Transformer figure. The average Transformer fan would take a look in store, stare at the figure in awe, and walk away. Little kids who happened on these figs in the toy aisle would have a hard time convincing their parents to buy such items, and that’s if they even took an interest in the first place.

MSRP for Trypticon is $149.99. Not surprisingly, the fig was going for around that much upon first release. But I was expecting this to follow the pattern of both Metroplex and Fort Max, and have the price reduced soon. I got Metroplex for a bit over $100, and Fort Max for $75. The 2017 Holidays rolled around, and Trypticon was still close to MSRP. I think the lowest I saw at the time was around $120 on Amazon, and after adding in tax it would go over $130. I thought it could go lower so I waited, but then the stock dried up and no more Trypticons would go on sale for a while.

Fast forward to June of 2018, and I saw one third party seller offering this at $103.65. This was a third party seller on Amazon, and not in the same state as me, which means no sales tax. So I quickly jumped on this and got me Trypticon.

I am disappointed to report that, to this day, my Trypticon still sits in the closet, unopened. I don’t know why I’m so hesitant. Maybe it’s because I know of the hip ratchets issue. Maybe I was always more of a fan of Metroplex. Or maybe I’m just too busy, with a 2 year old baby girl in the house.

But I’ll get to this one day. And if you’re reading and think you missed out, don’t. I just checked. Amazon has Trypicon at $109.99, while bbts has it at $99. Value of Trypticon has not gone up at all. Maybe the hip ratchets thing really hurt it. Compare that to Metroplex, which third party sellers on Amazon list at about $650.

Flyfire

I first mentioned Zeta Flyfire back in this post. And in the purchase post for last month (May 2018), I went into Air Strike. So I won’t repeat all that stuff here. Just know that these 2 Zeta Aerialbots are highly similar, definitely cut from the same cloth.

In the pic below, you see that Flyfire uses the exact same kind of packaging as Air Strike. And just like Air Strike, Flyfire comes with the same number and kind of accessories: a rifle, 4 missiles, instructions, and bio-card. Very minimalist, and in my opinion not a bad thing.

Flyfire in bot mode below.

Overall, I would say that Flyfire is about the same as Air Strike in robot mode, but comes together better in jet mode. I mentioned that, for Air Strike, there’s this weird issue with the front landing gear in jet mode. Flyfire has no such issue. It seems like Zeta fixed these minor annoying things this time around. Flyfire is the sophomore release in this series and it shows.

As of this writing, all 5 Zeta Aerialbots are released. My friend Gemini has all 5, and pics of the combined mode into Zeta Superion is impressive. However, Fans Toys have come out with their own set of Aerialbots. I have not yet decided if I want to stick with Zeta, or change direction mid-course and go with Fans Toys. I have a hunch that I will make this decision based on how I feel about Roadking, FT’s version of Motormaster. I received Roadking a few weeks ago, but have not had a chance to open the fig yet.

Bulldozer

By the end of 2015, there already exist several modern interpretations of Constructicons. Two were done by 3rd party: TFC Toys Hercules, and MakeToys Giant. Hasbro also released it’s own update on this popular combiner group. None of these sets are perfect, each with its pros and cons. But all of them can be considered good, and you can make a case for each as to which is the best. Instead of being forced to choose just one and suffer analysis paralysis, I got all 3. And if you were to point a fusion cannon to my head right now and force me to choose the winner among these 3, I probably go with Hercules by TFC Toys.

As if all these options weren’t already enough, in 2017 two more 3rd party companies decided to enter the fray and do their own take on Constructicons. One is Constructor by ToyWorld, which is the next entry (scroll down below). The other is ReBuilder by Generation Toy.

For those that don’t know, NBK is 4th party (read: knock-offs of 3rd party). I have no idea what NBK stands for. In this case, NBK Bulldozer is a knock-off of Generation Toy ReBuilder GT-99D Bulldozer. NBK didn’t even bother giving this figure a new name and just stuck with Bulldozer. And we all know this is supposed to represent Bonecrusher.

So is NBK Bulldozer any good? For a knock-off, it is surprisingly good! It’s packed in alt mode. The box is very minimal, but I will stress again I consider that to be a plus. As for accessories, he comes with a pistol, and the attachment that will become the forearm.

In alt mode, all pieces come together to form a nice cohesive whole.

There is placement for the forearm attachment in alt mode. It can be hooked up to the rear, like a trailer.

The pistol can be folded and tucked underneath the vehicle. See if you can identify where it is in this pic.

I’m guessing Generation Toy took some liberties with the design of Bulldozer, but to me he still seems very G1 for the most part. For color issues, the giant one that immediately pops up is why is the bulldozer blade purple. That’s probably a question that only NBK can answer. Knock-offs are notorious for botching color schemes, and whether or not that’s intentional is anyone’s guess.

Transformation is fun. And I will emphasize that again… FUN! That’s something I feel is often missing from today’s Transformers. 3rd party will often make something that is impressive in how it transforms, but transforming it becomes a chore. And as for HasTak, sometimes the figure is so simple, there is no fun. Sometimes bad construction issues ruin an otherwise well designed piece that would have been fun. NBK Constructor suffers from none of these pitfalls. The superb design is probably more a credit to Generation Toy, but NBK has built a piece that feels more than solid enough to be played with. All joints are at the right tolerance. Things snap together when they need to, and come apart when they should.

The transformation process itself should be familiar enough to anyone who has played with enough G1 style TFs in the modern era. But it’s not super-obvious either, with enough challenge to offer mature fans something to marvel at. Some G1 diehards will complain about transformational design changes, such as the 180 turning at the chest and how the bulldozer blade splits and ends up on the shoulders. I personally feel these are refreshing changes that offer a different yet familiar take on an old and tired scheme.

Below are some pics of the robot mode. I’ll let them do the talking.

Again, G1 diehards will complain about the non-G1-ness. But I like it. Bulldozer is well proportioned in robot mode. He looks different enough from G1 Bonecrusher, but still similar enough to be Bonecrusher. The figure is pretty poseable. And again, I don’t know if the purple bits are by design, this being knock-off and all.

The head mold should satisfy all G1 requirements.

The designers of this mold did account for storage of the arm attachment in robot mode. I guess this is supposed to be a giant backpack thruster kind of thing. It’s kind of hokey, but hey, they tried. Points for effort.

As for the arm attachment in combined mode, the fist flips out from inside the forearm. I like this. I’m not a fan of using extra combining pieces, and GT really minimized this in the design.

Overall I really recommend this toy. Get the Generation Toy version if you don’t mind spending the money. Or get this NBK KO version if you’re on a budget. Speaking of being on a budget, this is the first and only time I got something from ShowZ. I heard about the store, prior to this. At only $9.99 for NBK Bulldozer, I had to try it. That’s $9.99 from China, no extra shipping fees and no taxes! The figure arrived in reasonable time. So if you’re hesitant about the store, don’t be. ShowZ is legit. It’s not one of the China scammers that I have wrote about.

As of this writing, I do have all 6 of the NBK knock-off Constructicons. But I’ll save my thoughts about this NBK set for another day. Because we have something extraordinary to get to. And that is…

Constructor

I saved the best for last. Ladies and gentlemen… I give you… (drum roll)… Constructor!

I will say this right now, so you don’t have to read through all the details: if you want the best Devastator in this modern era, then pick up ToyWorld Constructor. This is hands down the best team in the combined form! If you care nothing for the individual robot or alt modes, then this is the set for you. ToyWorld Devastator is truly worthy of the name, and will put all other Devastators to shame.

But just to be complete, I will show pics of the other modes. Below is each fig in alt mode.

Individually in robot mode.

And now the pics you have been waiting for… the combined mode! Behold the awesomeness that is ToyWorld Constructor.

I spent $469.99 buying this set, and in this form, he’s worth every penny. Constructor is at the size he needs to be to properly scale with MPs. ToyWorld really hit it out of the park with this awesome set.

Doing a full review here won’t pay enough homage to group, so I intend to do a separate review later. So I will quickly list some pros and cons in bullet points.

Pros:

• Awesome Devastator! (I can’t say that enough)
• Solid build and construction
• Nice individual robot and alt modes
• G1 accurate – TW took very little liberties in the design
• Fun transformation that’s intuitive and not frustrating

Cons:

• Uses combining parts – and many of the parts have nowhere to go when in individual mode
• Individual modes do not scale well in MP – way too big

The bullets in Cons are points you kinda would expect, for Constructor to be so good. Unless someone really figures out show to mass shift, either the combined mode would be too small, or the individual bots would be too big. TW took the latter approach, but that’s to give us a Devastator that is truly representative of what we see in G1. As for using combined parts, I will concur with the naysayers and agree that it’s kinda cheating. Especially when the parts have nowhere else to go in the individual modes. But the proportions of Constructor is so good, I’m almost willing to forgive this. Almost. How you feel about using combiner parts is up to you, but I still see it as a negative.

When this set was first released, each bot had to be purchased separately, costing about $100 each. TW has gone away from that and now only release the complete set as one. The edition that I have here is the regular edition. It’s a very minimal set that only comes with the essentials. I don’t even remember if I have the Devastator gun, I’ll have to check. Other editions come with extra heads and different color thigh parts. TW knew they had a winner here, and kinda went crazy and released all sorts of different versions of Constructor. There’s a yellow one, an orange one, a clear green one, a clear orange one, a limited edition metallic one, and some more that I don’t remember. As of this writing, this regular edition that I feature here is on longer available. But there is a limited ultimate edition that costs about $500. I’m not sure what’s exactly in this ultimate version, but I see that it has more realistic paint. Some minor tweaks to the molds were made, probably after getting fan criticism on certain issues. It might come with all the extras. For only $30 more on top of what I paid, I wish I waited for this version. Oh well. Am I hardcore enough to get this version too? Most likely not. Probably not. I hope not.

And another quick FYI… sometimes the other color sets may go for crazy cheap. I think I have seen the clear orange one go for $299. It might have been ShowZ. Or maybe one of the other dealers on a weekend sale.

Whew… that was a WAY longer post than I had intended. Sometimes when the writing mood hits me, I don’t stop. This may have been my longest post ever. Longer post equals more proof reading, something I hate doing. It takes time away from playing with the awesome figs featured here.

Transform and Roll Out.

 

Quick post today. Much like when I gathered a group of Autobots at random or a collection of Decepticons lying about, today I feature another random assortment of Decepticons scattered around the house. Most of these figs are from unrelated continuities, but they make up a decent Decepticon force that the Autobots should not underestimate.

Masterpiece Barricade

Barricade is the police car of the bunch, but if you’re a fan of Movie TFs then you already knew that. Barricade made his appearance way back in the first Movie, being one of the first Decepticons introduced and having that memorable chase scene with Bumblebee. I have mentioned before that I am impressed by none of the Barricades made thus far. Well, that all changes with this Masterpiece Barricade. This Barricade is the real deal, worthy of the Masterpiece designation. He’s made from high quality plastic, and the toy feels solid and weighty in your hands. The details of the figure are top-notch. Transformation is nothing short of superb. It’s not overly difficult, but it does pose a decent challenge for even the experienced TF veteran. This is a figure I should review, but I’ll just state real quickly here that this is the only Barricade you need in your collection.

Studio Series Brawl

Continuing with Movie figs, this Brawl is from the Studio Series line of figures. Brawl does belong in the same TF continuity as Barricade, but these two figs are from different toy lines. For those that don’t know, Brawl is the tank. This Brawl figure is not bad. I like both his modes. He has enough weapons to accurately represent his on-screen persona. The engineering put into this figure is to be commended. Transformation is refreshing. Not terribly difficult, but definitely not for the faint of heart or for the impatient. Size wise, I feel he’s a tad too small. I know they are going for a different scale int he Studio Series figures, but even by that standard he’s too small in my opinion. SS Brawl should have been bigger like Leader Class Brawl from the first Movie. I should dig out that Brawl and compare the two figures.

Combiner Wars Blast Off
This is the Blast Off figure that we should have got in Combiner Wars. CW Combaticons was released some years ago, but the Blast Off figure released was just a repaint of Aerialbot Slingshot. That Blast Off transformed into a jet, and not a space shuttle. I ranted about Hasbro’s strange decision in this post, so I won’t do it again here. I’m just glad that Amazon stepped up and gave us the Blast Off that was Japan only up til now. Yep, it’s Amazon to the rescue again, much like they did Quickslinger (Slingshot) and Brake-Neck (Wildrider). This Blast Off is a nice figure. He is very G1 show accurate, in terms of his aesthetics. The paint job is impressive for a mass retail release. There are some new engineering in this figure not seen in other CW figs, such as the feet and shuttle nosecone transformations. But of course the best feature of this figure is that he transforms into a space shuttle. I have not tried to combine him with his fellow Combaticons, but I don’t expect there to be any issues.

Cyberverse Shockwave

The bright purple figure here is Shockwave. But he needs no introduction for anyone even remotely familiar with TFs. As of this writing, this is my first and only figure from Cyberverse. This Cyberverse is based on the new show, and have nothing to do with the subline of figures that appeared under Transformers Prime. The new Cyberverse line of figures caught me totally by surprise. I was not expecting them at all, then one day out of the blue I just saw them at Target. Ultimate class Optimus Prime and Megatron were the first two figs I saw. Then slowly, the Warrior class figs appeared. Many fans recommended this Warrior class Shockwave, so I got one. This is a very playable figure. I have probably transformed him like 10 times now. I dig the robot mode. His looks are very G1. I actually really like the shoulder mounted cannon gimmick. The “lasers” flip out from inside the launcher when the assembly is rotated from the back to the shoulder. Shockwave doesn’t have any head articulation, something sorely lacking by today’s standards, even in this basic class. I don’t like this alt mode all that much, I wish he was still his G1 style cannon. All in all, this Warrior class figure feels very much like a Robots in Disguise figure. It’s a light-weight figure made from cheap plastic and cobbled together with ball joints. Luckily for Shockwave, the design of the figure is decent, which saves it from being a total fail. I am however hesitant on buying more Cyberverse figs. They’re meant to be toys and not meant for the mature collector.

Decepticons, Transform and Roll Out.
 

I have a lot of Transformers. I do play with them, and I try to be as careful as I can be when transforming them. But when you have as many as I do, you’re bound to break some. Occasionally the figures come broken (yes this has happened). Sometimes an inherent flaw in manufacturing or design lends the figure to breaking after only a few play.

Below are 10 of the figures from my collection where something has occurred to render them less than perfect. My heart breaks every time one of my Transformers breaks. Read on and see if you have mishandled any of these 10.
 

Brawl (Leader Class)
Series: Movie (2007)
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: Ground Assault
Mode in Package: Robot
Known Redecos: Movie Deep Desert Brawl
Status: Returned to store; got replacement

The Figure:
Movie Leader Class Brawl is one of only few Leader Class figures I have from the entire Movie-verse. I highly recommend him. The robot mode is decent, but the tank mode is where this figure truly shines. He also has working lights and sounds, if that’s your thing.

The Incident:
First time I purchased this figure was from Toys R Us, and he was already broken out of the box. I documented this already, back in this post. There was a peg that came broken. It’s been more than 10 years now, so I don’t remember exactly which peg. But I think it was on the turret.

The Aftermath: I quickly returned Brawl to Toys R Us. I would have simply asked for a exchange, if they only had more of the figure. Since they didn’t, I asked for a refund and then bought it again on Amazon. And for cheaper too – looking up my old Amazon records, I re-purchased him for only $31.99! Can’t imagine getting a Leader Class figure for that price nowadays.
 

Samurai Prowl (Deluxe Class)
Series: Animated
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Autobot Spy
Mode in Package: Motorcycle with Sidecar
Known Redecos: none
Status: Returned to store; no replacement

The Figure:
Samurai Prowl is one of the hardest figures to find from the Animated line. I was super thrilled when I found one on pure happenstance. He appeared on a TRU shelf when the TFA line of toys was officially over. I documented that purchase here and a review here.

The Incident:
I outlined how I damaged the toy in the review. Specifically, the connection between the motorcycle and the side car is broken. The whole thing happened in such a way that I didn’t even notice it when the breakage occurred. I have must broken it on the first transform from alt mode to robot mode, because I saw the breakage on the reverse transformation. I’m forced to think that connection must have been super brittle. However I haven’t seen any other documented cases of this, so it’s possible I was being too rough. Though that’s not like me at all – when it comes to my TFs I’m usually careful to a fault.

The Aftermath:
I wasn’t happy about the breakage at the time, and I don’t feel any better about it now. I returned the figure to TRU, because perhaps the TF OCD in me can’t stand to have broken figures in my collection. But like I said, this figure is hard to find. I only saw him one other time. It was at the dealer’s room at a BotCon. The dealer wanted $40 for it, and no way was I gonna pay that. Sad to say, I never saw the figure in store again. Checking on Amazon just now, the lowest price is around $100. In retrospect, maybe I should have just hung on to my broken Samurai Prowl, or spent the $40 at BotCon for another one.
 

Bumblebee (Deluxe Class)
Series: Animated
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Autobot Speedster
Mode in Package: Car
Known Redecos: Elite Guard Bumblebee, Jetpack Bumblebee
Status: Damaged; got replacement

The Figure:
From one TFA figure we go to another. I got TFA Deluxe Bumblebee in a pack of 15 figures I bought used on Cragislist, something that I documented here. TFA figures as a whole don’t have the best construction. They often feel like cheap plastic cobbled together into a toy by ill-fitting ball joints. Bumblebee is a prime example of this. The alt mode cockpit pieces that form the back of the legs are connected by ball joints. One of them is too loose, and keeps coming off.

The Incident:
I tried to fix said loose joint by applying some nail polish to the socket. Unfortunately, I applied too much and now the ball won’t go in at all. So I guess you could say I broke this by trying to fix it.

The Aftermath:
I tried to buy another Bumblebee in store, but by then the Animated line was officially over. Online retailers were all charging a markup. Bumblebee is a mediocre figure at best, so I’m not paying markup for such a figure. Fortunately for me, I was able to get a Japanese version of this figure at a pretty good price, way less than whatever the MSRP was. That purchase was outlined here. The Japanese version is better anyway, with shiny chrome paint and slightly better construction. This is the figure that represents my Bumblebee in my TFA line. As for the “broken” Bumblebee, I keep him around for spare parts. He has come in handy, which brings me to my next entry…
 

Megatron (Voyager Class)
Series: Transformers United
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: Decepticon Leader
Mode in Package: Robot
Known Redecos: Classics Megatron, Henkei Megatron
Status: Repaired

The Figure:
I am still not sure what exactly is Transformers United. It was a Japanese only line. As far as I can tell, Takara took a bunch of Henkei figures, repainted them, and released this United line. There was no US equivalent. Anyways, Classics Megatron was one of the first 6 figures produced in the Classics line. The line is significant in that it started an update of classic G1 characters in modern forms while still capturing the G1 spirit. As a figure, the design of Classics Megatron is questionable. He does transform into a gun, which all G1-ers love. But Classics Megatron fits the very definition of shell-former (think G1 Scourge). Also, his alt mode kinda looks like a futuristic Cybertron pistol at best, and a toy water gun at worst. The Classics colors also don’t help matters, and even I have to agree that the US version of the figure used some kid friendly colors that made Megatron look like a Nerf toy gun. And so I wanted a more G1 accurate version of this figure. I was at BotCon 2011, and saw a dealer selling the United version of this figure at a reasonable price. So I bought it.

The Incident:
I’m not in the habit of opening my toys at the convention. After I got home, I find that something is wrong with the transformation. I can’t get the waist to properly align correctly for alt mode. Upon closer inspection, I see that a part in the waist is installed backwards! The whole thing is assembled with a screw, so all you really had to do is unscrew the assembly, re-position the part, and re-screw. However, it took me sometime to figure all this out. And by the time I did, I totally mangled the head of the screw. Fortunately I got the screw out, but there was no way it could be used again.

The Aftermath:
In the last entry I mentioned I use TFA Bumblebee for spare parts, and he has a screw that kinda fits into United Megatron. I now use that screw to secure this part of Megatron’s waist. The part in question is only visible during transformation. The fit with Bumblebee’s screw is not perfect. Rotation of the part using this screw is quite loose. However, the loose rotation is only apparent during transformation. And the waist as a whole has other parts that lock it into place in both alt and robot modes. So I’m ok with this fix. I have made peace with the fact that my United Megatron is not perfect, but functional (que “I still function” from the G1 Movie).
 

Darksteel (Deluxe Class)
Series: Dark of the Moon
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: ???
Mode in Package: Sports Car
Known Redecos: DotM Sideswipe
Status: Damaged; got replacement

The Figure:
Dark of the Moon Darksteel is not a character in the movie. I’m not sure if he has an appearance anywhere. Darksteel is another quick cash grab off an existing mold, in this case Sideswipe from the same movie. In all honesty, this mold is pretty cool. The redeco colors chosen for Darksteel is smashingly striking, and he does have a unique head mold that differentiate him from Sideswipe. I bought one when the figure was first released. I transformed him from alt mode to robot mode no problem.

The Incident:
Some months later I decided to transform him back to alt mode. It was late a night and I guess I was a bit too careless. Long story short, I bent one of the feet pieces the wrong way and broke it. I have transformed Sideswipe many times so I thought I knew the process, but I will admit that I don’t remember how TFs transform as well as I used to.

The Aftermath:
Some months after the first breakage, I went to shop at Kohls because they mailed me a $10 certificate, good for anything in the store. Most people don’t know this, but Kohls also has a toy section. Occasionally they will have Transformers. Anyways, on this particular trip, I find that they had Darksteel. They were already having a 10% off sale. And with the $10 certificate, the final price of Darksteel came to only $3.90. I documented that purchase here. To this day, I still have this 2nd copy of Darksteel mint in the package. I’ll probably keep this unopened. He’s not worth so much now, but maybe one day.
 

Optimus Prime (Voyager Class)
Series: Transformers Prime Beast Hunters
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Autobot Leader
Mode in Package: Robot
Known Redecos: Beast Hunters Optimus Prime (with extra green armor)
Status: Attempting repairs; got replacements

The Figure:
You didn’t think I was gonna get through this list without having an Optimus Prime figure on here, did you? Hasbro makes so many Optimus figures that it would be weird not to break one if you collected as many TFs as I did. I really like Beast Hunters Optimus. The toy is a good size to play with. He’s got a fun and intuitive transformation, and the figure looks good in both modes. I’m not crazy about the head mold, and hardcore TFP fans love to point out that his sword in the show is blue, not green. Still, at less than $20, this is a terrific OP figure.

The Incident:
I have only ever broken one Optimus Prime figure, and it’s this one. It could be worse, like if I broke the MP-10. But like I said, BH Optimus is one of the better figures of the famous Autobot Leader, so I’m still a bit bothered by it. Also, this figure represents something significant in my personal life, as I have documented here. So it kinda pains me to see it less than perfect. What happened is I broke the sword while Optimus is holding it, so now the handle of the sword is stuck in Prime’s right fist. I felt the sword being stuck in the fist, yet I still tried to force it out. Not a good move. Though I’m sure it was a bad job with the tolerance that led to this. My buddy Gemini had the same problem. Only he was more patient and submerged the fist and sword in really hot water and pulled it out.

The Aftermath:
To compensate for this breakage, I went out and purchased more BH Optimus figures, documented in the same post. I got both the US and Japanese versions of this, so now I have two unopened BH Optimus Prime figures sitting in a closet. I’m glad I did, because they are now worth quite a bit. I still want to attempt a fix on my original figure though. I recently bought the 3rd party Blue Skybreaker Sword by Dr Wu that is way better than the sword that came with BH Optimus. Now I just need to get the broken sword handle out of Optimus’ right fist. If I can do that, I will consider this figure back in perfect condition. Maybe I’ll try Gemini’s hot water trick.
 

Bumblebee (Deluxe Class, part of TRU Exclusive 2-pack)
Series: Age of Extinction
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: ???
Mode in Package: Robot
Known Redecos: AoE Bumblebee, standard edition
Status: Damaged; no replacement

The Figure:
How many Deluxe Bumblebees did they make from the Movie-verse? Too many to count, that’s for sure. I got one Deluxe Bumblebee in modern Camaro form from each of the 5 movies. The one featured here is from the 4th movie: Age of Extinction. After a while, all these Bumblebees just kinda blend together. The later Bees became one giant yellow blur. I don’t remember anything special about this one, other than the two circular disc type weapons that he has. For AoE, I got the special TRU 2-pack edition. The package comes with the standard AoE Deluxe Bumblebee that’s painted a bit more orange, and a repaint of Generations Legend Bumblebee from the Thrilling 30 line. One of these days I should put together all my Deluxe Movie Bumblebees for a group photo.

The Incident:
One night when I was transforming AoE Bumblebee from robot to car, I broke off the this right shoulder piece. This piece becomes the front right area of the hood in alt mode. I don’t even know what happened exactly. The part just broke on me. I dunno, I might have forced something, or maybe the part was just weak. Movie toys usually don’t have the best construction to begin with.

The Aftermath:
I thought about buying another standard Deluxe AoE Bumblebee to replace this broken one. But my feelings about this figure is mediocre at best. I didn’t wanna pay MSRP, though I was never able to find another one at less than that. So chances are this figure will just remain broken, not getting replaced or repaired.
 

Bumblebee (Deluxe Class, part of Bumblebee vs Barricade First Encounter 2-pack)
Series: Movie (2007)
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: ???
Mode in Package: Robot
Known Redecos: Movie (2007) Bumblebee standard edition, Target Exclusive Evolution of Bumblebee 2-pack
Status: Damaged; no replacement

The Figure:
How many Bumblebees are we gonna have on this list? And why do I keep breaking them? This is the last one, I promise. This is the very first Deluxe Bumblebee released in the Movie-verse. This figure transforms into a classic Camaro, the car that Sam first owns for the first half of the original Movie (and still the best). All the initial Movie toys had this crazy gimmick called “Advanced Automorph Technology”, sometimes just Automorph for short. Basically, several parts of the figure will auto transform upon moving a single piece. This is usually done through spring-loaded action built into the figure. In the case of this classic Caramo Bumblebee figure, the hood will automatically fold down to form the chest upon doing something else (of which I don’t recall anymore). It sounds cool, but it really isn’t.

The Incident:
The problem with these kinds of physical gimmicks is that they’re prone to breakage, and that’s exactly what happened. Years after I owned this figure, I dug him out of a box in the closet. I usually keep my figures in alt mode. When I found him, I saw that the car’s front hood is folded down. I tried to fold it back up, but it won’t click into position anymore. This figure broke while it was in storage. Some plastic pieces broke off after years of holding Automorph spring pressure. I probably should have stored this guy in robot mode. Lesson learned.

The Aftermath:
I actually had another version of this figure as part of the Target Exclusive Evolution of Bumblebee 2-pack. I kept it new but then sold it later, before I found out about the breakage. I do kind of want another one of this Bumblebee, not because it’s a great figure, but for it’s significance as part of a toyline that crossed from animation into live action media. Not a priority though.
 

M-F-B
Series: N/A
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: N/A
Mode in Package: N/A
Known Redecos: None
Status: Damaged; no replacement

The Figure:
This isn’t technically a figure. This is a gun accessory called M-F-B by 3rd party MakeToys. Due to licensing reasons, they can’t call it what it is, which is My First Blaster. In the IDW line of TF comics, this is a weapon for smaller sized Autobots. Swerve is often seen holding the weapon. MakeToys made this accessory to go with their Swerve figure (called Trash-Talk).

The Incident:
I got this accessory in the hopes that it would fit the Generations Thrilling 30 version of Swerve. Turns out, it doesn’t. The handle for M-F-B is 3mm, while Swerve’s hands are for 5mm weapons. Also, I didn’t know this came as a model kit (or maybe I did, but then forgot). I’m terrible at building models. During assembly, I broke off one of the light green bulbs that go on top of the M-F-B. Total bummer.

The Aftermath:
The breakage is beyond repair. And since this actually doesn’t even fit Generations Swerve, and I don’t have Trash-Talk, there’s no point for me to hunt down another one. This M-F-B will stay broken.
 

Soar (Blue)
Series: N/A
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Bombadier
Mode in Package: Robot
Known Redecos: Soar (Red), Soar (Red comic), Soar (Blue comic)
Status: Repaired

The Figure:
Soar by Fans Toys is an awesome homage to G1 Swoop. I have written about this figure already, so read all the details here. If you are collecting Masterpiece style figures and you need to round out your Dinobot collection, you need this figure.

The Incident:
Nothing was technically broken on my Soar. However, when I got the figure, it was missing the large vertical piece of the display stand that Soar sits on in dino mode. I couldn’t believe it! This is the largest piece in the package next to Soar itself. I love Fans Toys, but where was the QC on this?!

The Aftermath:
Capturedprey.com was gracious enough to hunt down a replacement piece of the stand for me. It took several months, but better late than never. I now have a fully completed Soar figure in perfect condition with all accessories intact. Thank you Capturedprey!
 

I do have more figures that are broken/damaged/missing parts, but these 10 will do for now. I’ll make another post when I have another 10. Hopefully that won’t occur. Though with the amount of Transformers I have, it’s only a matter of time.

What figures have you broken? Or come damaged or missing parts? Feel free to comment below.

Transform and Roll Out.
 

My fellow TransFans, June of 2016 is a historic month! For the first time in the history of this blog, I have acquired more 3rd party items than official Takara/Hasbro items! I think something like this phenomenon was brewing for a long time now. And it finally happened. I’ll comment more on this later, but for now let’s take a look at the figs for the month.

• Combiner Wars Groove, bbts.com, $24.99

• ToyWorld Iron Dreg, bbts.com, $91.99

• Fans Toys Grenadier, bbts.com, $82.99

• Spark Toys Alpha Pack, gift

• Warbotron Heavy Noisy, gift

First let’s look at the lone offical Hasbro purchase and get that out of the way. Combiner Wars deluxe Protectobot Groove is a shared exclusive between Amazon and some of the bigger online TF retailers. This figure is not to be confused with the legend size Groove released in 2015, which is available in mass retail. I have wrote about this before, and it’s worth stating again. For the Protectobots, Hasbro gave us deluxe Rook instead of deluxe Groove. I can only guess that this is a cheap ploy to sell more figures. Those of us that are hardcore G1 had to buy deluxe Groove the hard way. Boo Hasbro.

Deluxe Groove on its own is not a bad figure. Both modes look solid, and at first glance there’s not much to complain about. I’m fairly certain he’s a new unique mold, but he feels awfully similar to the other CW limb components. The toy itself feels quite cheap, but all CW deluxe figs share that flaw. The only real reason to get this fig is for hardcore G1-ers to complete the Protectobots with the right characters in the right scale. Below is a pic of CW Defensor formed in the proper G1 configuration.

Now onto the good stuff. First on the agenda is ToyWorld Iron Dreg, their tribute to Dinobot Slag. I believe this figure was bought back in the March of 2016. At the time, I already had Roar (Snarl) and Corelock (Grimlock), and I was so thoroughly impressed with those two that I vowed to complete the TW Dino set. So when I saw Iron Dreg at a discount in March, its purchase was a no-brainer. He wasn’t shipped and received til this month, because I wanted to ship the stack out along with Grenadier and Groove.

As of this writing now in February of 2017, I have 4 of these Dinos, the only missing one being Spear (Swoop). Though I gotta say, out of these 4, Iron Dreg is the weakest figure. I love the dino mode. It is a good modern update of Slag as a powerful metallic triceratops. The transformation and robot mode is where this figure falls a bit short in my opinion. The overall transformation schema is very close to how Slag transformed in the G1 toy. The only noticeable difference is having the rear dino legs fold inside into the lower legs in robot mode, a common motif among all modern interpretations of Dinobots. There are other minor differences, but nothing that really sticks out as a significant mechanical enhancement to the figure. Hardcore G1-ers would probably appreciate this close resemblance to what came before and see this as a plus. Normally I would wholeheartedly agree, but in the case of Iron Dreg, I feel there’s not enough updated from the G1 toy. As a CHUG update, I feel like a modern figure needs to move the toy forward in terms of engineering. It’s one thing to update aesthetics (something that fans passionately debate over), but it’s quite another to update mechanics. Everything feels too familiar. Don’t get me wrong, Iron Dreg is still a decent update of how Slag would be today. But when compared to ToyWorld’s efforts on Corelock, Roar, and Muddy (Sludge), Iron Dreg feels lazy. I guess it’s no accident that Iron Dreg was the 2nd to the last figure released in this team of 5. While we’re on that note, Spear is the last TW Dinobot released. I have read reviews that Spear is not that great of a figure, so I am debating if I want to spend around $100 to buy a bad figure, just to complete the set. First world problems – woe is me 🙁

As for Iron Dreg’s robot mode, I got the same gripe as its engineering – it feels too similar to G1. Again, Iron Dreg is still leaps and bounds superior to the G1 figure. It’s just that there’s nothing that wows me about this robot mode. All the updates that you expect to be there is there, but that’s all. TW most definitely did not go above and beyond with Iron Dreg, and the result feels like a minimally done update to Slag by 2016 standards.

I know I sound really harsh here, but I still recommend Iron Dreg if your aim is to complete the TW Dinobot set. As part of a team, he is solid enough of a figure that he warrants a purchase to occupy a space on your shelf. But as a standalone figure, I would say pass. There are other Dinos from TW that are way better. If you only wanted to get one Dinobot, you would probably get Grimlock anyway. Below is a pic of Iron Dreg in robot form.

Here is a link to the 4 TW Dinos I have thus far, in their dino modes. I love how the team looks together.

Let’s now take a look at a character that’s very dear to me: Bombshell. I have outlined how Bombshell is my very first official Transformer. And for that reason, I try to buy all the modern updates to the character. I have one set of G1 reissues, the FansProject update (as Stormbomb), and the recent Combiner Wars legend figure. I even have Hardshell, a spiritual update of the character in the TF Prime Beast Hunters line.

By the middle of 2016, many third parties have attempted MP interpretations of everyone’s favorite robotic insect pests. I read and watched some reviews, and the general consensus is that Fans Toys make the best MP Insecticons. And since Bombshell is my favorite of the 3, I bought Fans Toys Grenadier. I know many fans prefer the grey chest toon version of this figure. But I elected for the toy version with the purple chest, because that’s how the G1 toy was. I played with this figure over and over as a kid, and transformed him countless number of times that today this figure is in fairly poor condition. The G1 figure had a purple chest, and that’s what I remember, so I went for purple in Grenadier. And honestly, I didn’t even notice that Bombshell had a grey chest in the cartoon until very recently, when third parties started doing their MP Insecticons.

FT Grenadier comes packaged in robot mode. The first thing that you will notice about this figure upon taking it out of the box is that it’s got some decent heft to it! Seriously, Grenadier weighs more than most figures I own, and that’s saying a lot! Below is a pic. This figure is a wonderful representation of Bombshell in MP scale.

FT was smart enough to mold a design on Grenadier’s chest that’s a perfect fit for third party Decepticon stickers. Notice on my Grenadier I have a faction symbol on his chest, using stickers by Ocean Designs that I bought sometime in 2015. I love the look of Grenadier in robot mode. Appearance wise, he’s a perfect homage to Bombshell, and in my opinion he strikes the perfect balance between how he appears in the cartoon and how he should appear as a toy figure. He scales nicely with other MPs on the shelf. Grenadier has got some decent articulation, capable of some dynamic poses if you want to re-enact scenes of Bombshell in action.

Transformation to bug mode can be a mediocre challenge, but not for the reasons you think. As a rule, I think transforming plastic pieces is usually easier than transforming metal pieces. Transforming Grenadier, it feels like the whole figure is metal. I know that’s not true, but the figure has a fair amount of die-cast, and the plastic used is super high quality. While I applaud the materials used, transforming the figure becomes difficult. There’s very little wiggle room for error when such hard pieces on the figure are used, and thus the process becomes unforgiving. The tight joints also do not lend to an easy transformation process. However, all this is balanced out by the transformation mechanism being on the simple side, resulting in a figure of average difficulty on the challenge scale. In a nut shell, not a whole lot of steps in the transformation, and it’s obvious what the next steps should be. But performing the steps could take some work.

In beetle mode, Grenadier does not disappoint. He’s got the same weighty feel and robust construction that he has in robot mode. The appearance of the bug is tremendously faithful to his show likeness. Fans Toys even included a set of alternate legs for the bug mode. I’m not sure what they are for entirely. It’s possible that, in some episodes, Bombshell had legs that looked more like the alternate legs. I should have took a pic of Grenadier alone in beetle mode. Scroll down to the bottom of this post of Grenadier in alt mode in a group shot.

I highly recommend Grenadier. Here is a pic of Grenadier in robot mode with some of his Decepticon cohorts.

The next two figures are gifts from my wife. I have wishlists set up on my favorite TF retail sites, and she just looks at these when she buys me TFs as gifts. It’s always kind of a surprise which figs she would choose.

The first of these is from a new company called Spark Toys. They decided to do their take on a War Within Optimus Prime. Back in 2006, when it was only 2 years after I started collecting TFs again, Hasbro partnered with Galoob to release the Titanium line. The very first figure released in this line is a War Within Optimus Prime. In all fairness, that figure wasn’t bad. I liked both modes of that figure. The transformation, while simple, captured how a Optimus Prime figure should transform. The paint applications of the figure was solid. Where that figure fell apart is in the construction. The selling feature of the Titanium line is that they include die-cast parts. But they say die-cast construction is a lost art, and in the case of Titanium figures, it’s very true. Titanium OP had some of the worst joints imaginable in a TF. They could not support the weight of the die-cast pieces. The result is a figure that can’t hold any kind of pose, and picking up the figure yields a floppy mess of a Transformer.

Well, that was then. 10 years later in 2016, Spark Toys makes their attempt to do justice to War Within Optimus Prime, in MP scale no less. And since they are third party, the name they are calling OP is Alpha Pack. I’m glad to report that Spark Toys’ efforts is a success! The first thing you will notice about getting this guy out of the box is the spectacular paint job! I think of all the TFs that I have acquired, this guy may have the best paint job ever. The reds, blues, and silvers have this shiny and glossy metallic property to its appearance, and it’s great to see that the application is uniform across the figure. Front head lights and rear tail lights are all accented in bright yellow paint. The tires a made of rubber, and in vehicle mode, Alpha Pack rolls well on a flat surface.

Alpha Pack comes with 3 accessories: the famous OP rifle, an axe (not the energon variety), and their take on the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. In alt mode, Alpha Pack can carry the rifle in the top rear area of the truck. To do this, there is a nice little attachment handle that flips out of the rifle, and this can be hidden when Alpha Pack is using the rifle in robot mode. Very very cool. The Matrix can be comfortably stored in the front grill area (which becomes the chest in robot mode). But there is no room for the axe in alt mode.

Below are some pics of the alt mode of Alpha Pack. I love the look of Alpha Pack in this mode – he looks like he jumped straight out of the comics. I applied an Ocean Designs decal to him as well.

Below is a pic of Alpha Pack next to the awesome DX9 Carry (which I will go into next month).

Transformation to robot mode is not difficult at all. I’m going by all memory here, but in terms of the transformation paradigm and overall number of steps, it feels like the Alpha Pack is only slightly upgraded from the Titanium figure. The mechanics of how that’s achieved, however, is a vast improvement. Alpha Pack does not have any die-cast pieces as far as I can tell, but in opinion that’s a good thing. It makes for a more playable figure. And as far as transformation and poseability, not having die-cast poses less issues in these areas. Alpha Pack has nice joints to support the figure, but not having die-cast means it doesn’t need extra joint reinforcement to begin with.

Alpha Pack looks great in robot mode. The figure feels true to his War Within appearance. Look at the top banner of this blog for a pic of War Within OP if you are not familiar with that incarnation. The outstanding paint job shines in this mode as well. Some fans have mentioned that he looks a tad too bulky in robot mode. When standing next to MP-10, it’s hard to argue against that complaint. But personally, I kind of dig this bulky look. This is how a lot of the comic book artists choose to stylize Optimus Prime in his Cybertron days, and I am glad to see Spark Toys hold true to this design. Below is a pic of Alpha Pack next to the US Version of MP-10.

One gripe I have about Alpha Pack is the poseability. Because he is a bit on the bulky side, his range of poses are more limited. This is something to note if you are one of those collectors that love to display your figures in dynamic poses. But despite this weakness, I still highly recommend Alpha Pack. This figure has way more pluses than minuses, and if you are a fan of War Within or any of the modern G1 Transformer origin stories of their era prior to Earth, you should pick up this figure.

The other figure that I got as a gift from my wife this month is Heavy Noisy, which is Warbotron’s rendition of Brawl. This is the 2nd time that my wife has chosen to get me something from the Warbotron Combaticons (the first being Whirlwind, or Vortex). My wife knows nothing about Transformers. She picks out the figures on my wishlist based on appearance alone. She has always joked that she identifies more with the Decepticons, so perhaps she knows more than she’s letting on.

Heavy Noisy is the 4th figure I have in the Warbotron Combaticon line. I gotta say though, this one feels like the weakest out of the four so far. He’s still a decent figure, but something about him just don’t feel quite up to par with the other team members. Both modes are satisfactory. Transforming the arms into tank mode is a bit of a pain because they are so tight, and it’s even worse when you try to get them back to robot mode. I’m also not thrilled about the tank turret becoming a shield. It feels too much like puzzle forming in my book. But Heavy Noisy is not a bad figure by any means. He is solid enough to earn a place in your collection, and you still need him to form Bruticus. I’ll reserve my final thoughts for when I have all 5 members of Warbotron. As of this writing, I have purchased Air Burst (Blast Off). I should have him in hand soon.

Below I have a pic of all the 3rd party figures acquired this month in a group shot.

It’s quite a sight to see how far 3rd party products have come. I still remember my very first 3rd party figure, which was Defender by FansProject. Third parties have really stepped up their game since then. Most of the figures produced recently seem to be in really high quality. They rival anything that Hasbro/Takara has produced in the MP line, and blows away anything that you would find in retail store shelves. Third party products are not getting any cheaper, though. So many companies are getting into this game that I can’t count them anymore. Very often, multiple companies will produce their version of a particular character. As fans, I am glad I have so many options on something that Hasbro will not produce, but I also feel handicapped by all these options. Many studies have been done on the paradox of choice; that too many options can actually make a person unhappy. As for third party TFs, is too much of it presented to the buyer that decision paralysis is now an issue? I was gonna sum up my thoughts on this topic in a short paragraph here, but now I think this may deserve it’s own post.

June 2016 was a great month. So many great figures, by so many different companies. More to come soon… Transform and Roll Out.

February in a even year is a month that is typically loaded with TF purchases. This was the case in 2012 and 2014. 2016 follows this trend. Focus your optics on all the figures below.

• Robots in Disguise Fracture, Toys R Us, $16.99

• Combiner Wars Vortex, Target, $15.29

• Combiner Wars Swindle, Target, $15.29

• Combiner Wars Brawl, Target, $15.29

• Combiner Wars Blast Off, Target, $15.29

• Combiner Wars Onslaught, capturedprey.com, $24

• Combiner Wars Smokescreen, Target, $15.29

• Combiner Wars Trailbreaker, Target, $15.29

• Combiner Wars Hound, Target, $15.29

• Combiner Wars Wheeljack, Target, $15.29

• Combiner Wars Pipes, capturedprey.com, $10

• Combiner Wars Chop Shop, capturedprey.com, $12

• Combiner Wars Buzzsaw, capturedprey.com, $12

• Masterpiece Ironhide, amiami.com, ¥7490 (about $65.37)

• Warbotron Fierce Attack, capturedprey.com, $100

As the first order of business, let’s get the lone Robots in Disguise fig out of the way. I’ve said many times already that I’m not a big fan of RiD offerings, but Fracture is not too shabby. I found him when me and the wife took a long Valentines weekend trip to Santa Barbara. He was located at a Toys R Us, not in Santa Barbara, but at a nearby town. I don’t watch the RiD show, so I generally don’t buy the RiD toys based on any knowledge or impressions of the character. I look strictly at the toy. Fracture got my attention because I have never seen him before this, and he genuinely looked like a solid fig in the box. The alt mode also looked interesting. The figure does not disappoint. Both modes are solid, and the figure is well built. No figure in RiD is ever difficult to transform, and Fracture is no exception. But I do like some of the transforming mechanisms implemented here. Hasbro and Takara has in recent years really improved upon motorcycle Transformers. In years past, the robot mode would either look too skinny, or the motorcycle mode would look too fat. Fracture shares none of these faults. I also like the kick-ass rifle he comes with. Fracture is definitely one of the better figs in the RiD line. Recommended.

February is a return to Combiner Wars figures, and this sub-category accounts for most of the figs this month. Last year we saw the Aerialbots, Stunticons, Protectobots, and some random Autobot cars reworked in CW fashion. The Constructicons got a awesome unique set all on their own in the CW lineup. This leaves the Combaticons as the only combiner team before the G1 Movie to not receive Combiner War treatment. I mentioned so many times that Combaticons are my favorite combiner team that I’m starting to sound like a broken record, so needless to say I was very excited about CW Combaticons.

I found the 4 limb Combaticons on the same Valentines trip (but at Target). Onslaught was bought online. In the end, I wasn’t too surprised by what’s produced. 3 of the figs are reworks of existing molds. Blast Off is repainted from Quickslinger (Slingshot), Vortex is cloned from Alpha Bravo, and Onslaught is reworked from Hot Spot. Blast Off and Vortex are pure repaints from pre-existing figs without any kind of mold changes.

Warning! I am going into rant mode. Skip to bottom to avoid the rant.

Blast Off – there is no excuse for Blast Off. His head design is nothing like Slingshot’s, but that’s what we have in this toy. You might think Hasbro is just being lazy here (which they are), but there is a Japanese version of this figure where Blast Off is in a new distinct mold. That figure transforms into a space shuttle and has the right head mold. I don’t understand Hasbro’s decisions sometimes. I know they like to produce molds that can be repainted numerous times to be a variety of figures, so they do the work once and make money repeatedly afterwards. I totally get that. But a true Blast Off is already produced! So why not just bring that over?! Their stupidity dumbfounds me. Some fans have made an argument that a jet fighter better fits into what should comprise of the Combaticons, and that a jet scales better than a shuttle. That argument is sound. But the head mold is still an issue. Hasbro could have at least took the head off of the Japanese mold and stuck it on the US figure.

Vortex – I should have realized this sooner, but Alpha Bravo’s head is exactly like that of Vortex. So this mold was always meant to be Vortex. Hasbro tactically released Alpha Bravo first so G1 chumps like me would buy both figures; I bought Alpha Bravo because he was a new mold at the time, and then I bought Vortex because he comes from the famous Combaticons. If the order was reversed, I would have ignored Alpha Bravo altogether. This seems to be Hasbro’s strategy recently. Some other recent examples include releasing Titans Return Sentinel Prime before Astrotrain, and Robots in Disguise Paralon before Scorponok. Notice the more famous character of the same mold is released last, while other less famous or even newly made up characters are released first. Damn you Hasbro! This is such a cheap trick that I feel stupid for not recognizing it sooner. I need to be more vigilant on what Hasbro plans to produce.

End of rant

As for Onslaught, he’s a tweak off of Hot Spot. Hasbro made enough differences here that Onslaught feels like a distinct figure. He’s fine enough on his own in alt mode and robot mode, but he suffers from the same issues that Hot Spot has in combined form. As the gestalt’s center, this figure in combined mode has issues with weight distribution and figure cohesiveness. CW Silverbolt is still the best mold for a standard CW gestalt.

The new molds for the Combaticons are Swindle and Brawl. I like them. Both figs are good modern updates and accurately capture Swindle and Brawl in their G1 persona. Of course Hasbro would waste no time repainting these molds. In fact, Swindle would be repainted into Hound in this same month (more on this later). And I believe Brawl is reworked into Nosecone of the CW Technobots.

Like I said, this CW Combaticons team is pretty much what I expected. They repainted these figures so many times now that it wouldn’t be hard to envision any combiner team in these molds. Unless you are partial to Combaticons like me, there isn’t a whole lot of good reasons to buy this set. Just get Swindle and Brawl if you feel you need the new molds. Below are some pics of Combaticons.

The next 4 CW figs are Smokescreen, Trailbreaker, Hound, and Wheeljack. These are ALL repaints. What can I say? I’m a sucker for G1 characters. I buy them in almost any form that Hasbro will make them. Smokescreen is an exact repaint of Prowl, but this is okay since that’s how it was back in G1. Trailbreaker and Hound are cloned from Ironhide and Swindle, respectively, but with new head molds. Wheeljack, while technically a repaint, is the most reworked mold here. In addition to the new head mold, he gets some molding differences in alt mode that makes him feel quite different from Sunstreaker. I won’t go in depth for this group since they’re so similar to figures that have already come before them. Below are pics of this Combiner Wars foursome, not combined.

It’s a good thing these Combiner Wars repaints stopped here. If Hasbro really wanted to, they could do another foursome: Bluestreak from Smokescreen, Sideswipe from Sunstreaker, Hoist from Trailbreaker, and Ratchet from First Aid. I should stop writing here. Don’t want to give Hasbro any more ideas.

Now let’s take a look at the legend size CW figs this month: Pipes, Chop Shop, and Buzzsaw. In G1, Pipes is a Minibot that appeared in Season 3. He might have had cartoon appearances, but I honestly don’t know since Season 3 was so forgettable. I am kinda partial to the character though, because I had the G1 toy. I got him at Lucky, of all places. Mom took me shopping for groceries and she was kind enough to buy it for me. So yeah, that’s why I even bought CW Pipes. Pipes is the 4th character of this mold (after Optimus Prime, Nemesis Prime, and Huffer). Normally that would be a total skip, but I added Pipes to my collection out of pure nostalgia. Chop Shop was a Deluxe Insecticon during G1. His toy appeared in Season 2, but he never made an animated appearance. CW Chop Shop is a repaint of Skrapnel (Shrapnel). In G1 he was not a repaint of anything. I probably could have skipped this purchase as well, but these little bugs are just too cool. Buzzsaw is a brand new mold. Buzzsaw needs on introduction, but everyone just thinks of him as that repaint of Laserbeak. So here is another example of releasing the less known character first, like stated in my rant above. Damn you Hasbro! CW Buzzsaw is a triple changer. He still has his iconic condor mode. For modern day standards, the tape cassette mode is now replaced by a tablet mode. And he gets a new vehicle mode that’s like a car or armored truck kind of thing. Overall, Buzzsaw is a neat little figure, but not a must-buy by any means. Actually, none of these legend figs are must-buys by any stretch of the imagination. Below is a pic of the three of them.

Next on the agenda is a figure that many of us, including myself, have been waiting for: Masterpiece Ironhide! If you are a G1 fan, then you know that Ironhide is one of the most iconic Autobots, behind perhaps only Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. You would also know that in G1, his toy did not really have a robot mode. His cartoon robot mode appearance is something totally made up by the animation creators (same goes for Ratchet, his ambulance repaint). I am glad to report that MP Ironhide is an awesome figure! Both robot and alt mode are faithfully reproduced from the show. Check out a pic of the very cartoon accurate robot mode below!

Now that is Ironhide! Takara has outdone themselves with this figure. I can’t get over how good he looks; it’s like he stepped straight out of the cartoon. Transformation wise, this figure hits it out of the park. He comes packaged in alt mode (see below), and as of this writing I only transformed him once to robot mode. But I remember the transformation being pure genius. Difficulty is just right too for a MP fig. There’s enough complexity going on to satisfy the most hardcore of TransFans, and at the same time not overly difficult or frustrating. In fact this figure is fun to transform. And that’s saying a lot considering both modes look so good. Below is a pic of the back of Ironhide. He’s so kibble free too! Check it out.

In the pic above he’s wearing the rocket boost backpack. If I took that off, he would look even more kibble free. Construction of the figure is perfect. All joints and transformation points are just the right amount of tightness. He also comes with accessories galore. And he comes with a tray to hold those accessories when they’re not in use. The shape of the tray kind of resembles the base of his G1 robot mode. That’s too cool! See the pics below.

MP Ironhide scales nicely with other MPs. Below is a pic of him next to MP Optimus Prime, Streak (aka Bluestreak), Wheeljack, G2 Bumble (aka Bumblebee), and Invisible (aka Mirage).

I can’t recommend MP Ironhide enough. All G1 TransFans need this in their collection. No excuses.

Last but not least, the only 3rd party figure this month is Fierce Attack. This is Warbotron’s homage to Onslaught. That makes this the 2nd Onslaught figure this month. I’m not sure if I have ever bought two of the same character in a single month (not counting if I buy doubles of the same thing)! As of this writing, I haven’t had the chance to spend that much time with Fierce Attack. I transformed him once from alt mode to robot mode, and that’s it. But what I can say is that I like both modes. He’s well built and I don’t detect any obvious weaknesses in construction. Poseability is somewhat limited, but I need to spend more time with the figure to fully verify that assertion. I will report more on Fierce Attack after I get all 5 Warbotron Combaticons. I really liked Sly Strike (Swindle) and Whirlwind (Vortex), and I like what I see so far on Fierce Attack. Below is a pic.

Whew! Last was a long post. I didn’t know there were so many TFs this month until I counted them up. Here are the stats breakdown for the month:

• 1 fig from Robots in Disguise
• 12 figs from Combiner Wars
• 1 Masterpiece fig
• 1 3rd party fig

I am obviously buying way too many Combiner Wars figures. A lot of them are repaints too. By my count, out of the 15 figures total, 9 of them are repaints! That’s way too many. The repaints outnumber the non-repaints 3 to 2. The only non-repaints are Fracture, Swindle, Brawl, Buzzsaw, Ironhide, and Fierce Attack. I seriously need to be more selective about which TFs I buy. I see myself selling some of these figures in the near future. Not because they’re bad, but because I really don’t need repaints of the same thing.

Until next time… Transform and Roll Out.

OMG! Right as I was about to leave work on Wed, Gemini sends me a link to some new unlicensed Transformers made by a new unheard of third party! Apparently this new company is called Warbotron. And their first entry is a combiner set homage to G1 Combatcions that will merge into Bruticus! This set must be seen to be believed! Feast your optics on these pics now!!!

News of this set seems to have come out of nowhere. Warbotron? That appears to be the name of the third party company, and not the fictional name of these Combaticon homages. This set has that TFC look all over it, and the size of the figures resemble that of TFC Hercules.

The trend these days is that multiple 3rd party companies are each doing their own interpretation of a G1 combiner team. TFC Toys and Maketoys each took a stab at the Constructicons (Hercules and Giant, respectively), and they both turned out pretty good. Four different companies are doing the Predacons (Unique Toys, Mastermind Creations, TFC, and another newcomer that I can’t remember).

FansProject started this whole trend with their Crossfire upgrade of Bruticus Maximus. I’m glad someone else is now taking a 2nd stab at upgrading my beloved Combaticons in this modern day and age. Don’t get me wrong, I love FansProject Crossfire 02. But it always irked me that only Blastoff and Swindle are new molds, and the rest are Energon molds that are not G1 enough for me. And while they do scale nicely with other CHUG figures individually, recent 3rd party combiners have become bigger (like TFC Hercules), making Crossfire’s combined form appear small by comparison. This new Warbotron set will address both these issues. Check out the pics above with T-Bone. This set will be massive!

Below are some images of these guys individually in robot mode!

Here is someone’s photoshop estimation of how this set will scale with other 3rd party items.

I’m probably gushing way too much here, but I can’t help but be super impressed. I love how they released pics of their products all at once, instead of teasing us with silhouettes. Other fans have pointed out that this set is very G1 accurate, and that other 3rd parties (like FP, Maketoys, and TFC) have been taking too many liberties in their designs.

Current estimation for a pre-order date is Nov. No price estimation is available at this time.

I don’t know how many times I have said this on my blog now, but the Combaticons are my favorite combiner team. FP made my dreams come true with their Crossfire set. Now someone else is making that dream even sweeter!

You can be sure I will keep my optics open for any new developments on this required purchase. Warbotron… Transform and Roll Out!

St Patrick’s Day kinda just creeped up on me this year. Doesn’t seem like anyone in my circles is really making a big deal out of it. Maybe because this year it falls on a Sunday. On Fri I wore a green shirt to the office, but it was purely by accident. A co-worker assumed it was for St Patrick’s Day, so he makes a snarky comment. Then it hits me.

To continue with the traditions of this blog, I’m assembling all the green TFs I bought since last St Patrick’s Day for a group photo. Why is this weird tradition continuing? Who knows. Guess I’m just bored and have nothing better to do.

The Autobots
Front row (left to right): GDO legend Hoist, GDO deluxe Springer, TF Prime RID deluxe Kup.
Back row (left to right): TF Prime Beast Hunters deluxe Bulkhead, TF Prime First Edition voyager Bulkhead, TF Prime RID voyager Bulkhead

The Decepticons
Clockwise from top: Generations Fall of Cybertron deluxe Brawl, GDO voyager Powerdive, GDO scout Brawl, GDO voyager Megatron

I do have one more green Decepticon, but he’s not opened so I’ll just show him here in the box with the rest of his comrades.
Generations Fall of Cybertron G2 color dexlue Brawl (left leg)

That’s a total of 11 green figures for this edition of St Patrick’s Day TFs. 6 Autobots and 5 Decepticons. Much more balanced than last year. There are 3 Bulkheads and 3 Brawls. Hasbro must really like these characters to do them over and over.

March Madness is also upon us! Today is Selection Sunday, meaning today the NCAA selection committee decides which teams go into the National Tournament. Being a UCLA alumni, I’m always partial to the Bruins. They had a opportunity to go far this year, but the sudden loss of Jordan Adams due to injury in the conference semi-finals will hurt their chances. Still, I’ll be watching as much as I can. Bruins will get a bid for sure since they won the regular season of the PAC-12. This coming weekend (from Thur to Sun) is my favorite weekend as far as sports go. I might take time off from work on Thur and Fri, just to go catch every single game!

Previous St Patrick’s Day posts appear here:
2011
2012

Happy St Patrick’s Day everyone! Transform and Roll Out!

There’s a storm passing by the Bay Area right now in Northern California. It’s not raining too heavily at the moment, but last night it was coming down hard. It’s supposed to pick up later and continue til the end of Sunday. This storm is giving me a cold so I didn’t even go to work today. With both the storm and this cold, I’m probably staying in all weekend. Me and some guys thought about doing paint ball on Sunday before this storm arrived. Pretty sure that’s not happening.

But with all the TFs I bought in November, staying in all weekend is not so bad. 🙂

• Masterpiece Sideswipe, amiami.com, about $75 shipped

• Generations GDO Hoist, Toys R Us, $5.99

• Masterpiece Optimus Prime, toysrus.com, $119.99
• Generations GDO Megatron, toysrus.com, $22.99
• Generations GDO Powerdive, toysrus.com, $22.99

• Transformers Prime Breakdown, eBay, $59.99 shipped

• Generations Fall of Cybertron G2 Bruticus, Amazon, $59.99

• Transformers Prime Thundertron, Target, $19.99
• Transformers Prime Ultra Magnus, Target, $19.99

• Generations GDO Hot Spot, Toys R Us, $22.99

That’s 14 TFs for the month: 2 MPs, 4 Generations GDO, 5 Generations FOC, and 3 TF Prime.

So far I opened only 5 of these: MP Sideswipe, Hoist, Megatron, Powerdive, and Ultra Magnus. Still plenty of TFs to open on this rainy weekend. And out of the 24 TFs I got last month, 2 are still unopened (the 2 Cliffjumpers).

I did a full review on MP Sideswipe here and here. Hoist I kind of reviewed here.

Normally I would write more thoughts about these TFs, but I’m sick and that medicine is kicking in. Need to go rest for now. Even Autobots need to spend time in the CR chamber every now and then.

Transform and Roll Out!

When it rains, it pours. Like Cybertron Acid Rain! Or Hurricane Sandy. October was a downpour full of Transformers, I was finding newly released figures multiples times per week. This will be a long post. Prepare yourself.

• Generations GDO Swerve, toysrus.com, $14.99
• Generations GDO Springer, Toys R Us, $14.99
• Generations GDO Wheelie, Toys R Us, $14.99
• Generations GDO Cliffjumper, toysrus.com $14.99

• Generations GDO Brawl, Toys R Us, $9.99
• Generations GDO Laserbeak, toysrus.com $9.99

• Transformers Prime Rumble, Walmart, $15.47

• Transformers Prime Airachnid, Target, $15.49

• Transformers Prime First Edition Terroron Cliffjumper, Toys R Us, $14.99
• Transformers Prime First Edition Vehicon, Toys R Us, $14.99

• Transformers Prime Voyager Dreadwing, Target, $21.99

• Transformers Prime Kup, Walmart, $15.47
• Transformers Prime Vehicon, Walmart, $15.47

• Generations Fall of Cybertron Onslaught, hasbrotoyshop.com, $14.99
• Generations Fall of Cybertron Blastoff, hasbrotoyshop.com, $14.99
• Generations Fall of Cybertron Vortex, hasbrotoyshop.com, $14.99
• Generations Fall of Cybertron Swindle, hasbrotoyshop.com, $14.99
• Generations Fall of Cybertron Brawl, hasbrotoyshop.com, $14.99

• Generations Ultimate Gift Set (Jazz, Combat Hero Optimus Prime, Motorbreath, Thundercracker), hasbrotoyshop.com, $29.99

• Generations GDO legend Silverstreak, Toys R Us, $5.99
• Generations GDO legend Thundercracker, Toys R Us, $5.99

Whew! That’s a lot of TFs! I knew October was gonna be special, when back in this post I said October is off to a great start. 24 TFs for the month. That’s gotta be a new single month record, even for me. 7 figures came out of TF Prime, and the other 17 all belong to Generations. And out of the 17 Generations, 5 are Fall of Cybertron, and the rest GDO. I guess this month more than makes up for the last few months, where I found virtually nothing in the stores.

Out of the 24 figs, 13 are repaints of molds I already have. Still, Hasbro made them different enough for me to want them. They sure know how to keep me interested.

Notice I bought the little legend GDO Thundercracker twice. First came with the Ultimate Gift set from hasbrotoyshop.com, and the second was a standalone purchase at Toys R Us. I guess I could’ve left the the 2nd one on the shelf, but these little guys are rare finds so I couldn’t help myself.

But yeah, so many TFs in such a short span. I’m barely able to process it all. The pic below shows the only figures that I opened so far. And believe me I plan to open them all (except for the 2nd Thundercracker).

I recommend all these figures that I opened. Well, maybe except for Airachnid. Her robot mode is pretty crappy. But the heli mode is cool and she is a rare fig, so there are still some reasons to get one.

Today is also Halloween. So I thought I do a shot of all my orange TFs with a stuff pumpkin that I have. Check it out below.

And speaking of orange, here’s a plug for a totally unrelated topic: San Francisco Giants are world champions! As a sports fan living in the SF Bay Area, it’s something I must mention. Their colors are orange and black, very fitting for Halloween. Coincidentally, the victory parade is also on this day. It will be crazy in the city! I wanted to take a pic of my orange TFs with some Giants memorabilia, but can’t find any. Earlier in the year I went to a Giants game, and I got a Brian Wilson gnome as a stadium give-away. I sold it on eBay for $50, which I’ve come to regret now for 3 reasons: 1) It’s a great piece to take a pic with my orange TFs, 2) Now that Giants are world champs, it’s probably worth way more than $50, and 3) It’s a great memento to keep around for a championship year. Though Brian Wilson has made no contribution to this championship run since he’s been hurt since May, so maybe it’s not a big deal.

Happy Halloween everyone! Transform and Roll Out!