Only 3 figures were purchased in August of 2018.

• Power of the Primes Blast Off, amazon.com, $24.99

• Power of the Primes Repugnus, amazon.com, $24.99

• NBK Scraper, eBay seller, $13.89

Blast Off

I mentioned this Blast Off figure back in this post. Go there for all the details. In short, this was the Blast Off that should have been released in the United States all along. In that post, I listed him as being in Combiner Wars. Realistically that’s not wrong, since the rest of his Combaticon cohorts were from Combiner Wars. But technically Blast Off is released in the Power of the Primes line (written on the side of the box).

Power of the Primes Blast Off is completely representative of G1 Blast Off. He transforms into a space shuttle, has a head mold that resembles his G1 cartoon looks, and has a paint scheme that his G1 toy brother would be proud of. This Blast Off is an Amazon exclusive, much like what they did for Quickslinger (Slingshot) and Brake-Neck (Wildrider).

Here is a pic of him in the box.

As of this writing, I still haven’t tried combining this Blast Off as part of Bruticus. I’ll get to that someday, promise.

Repugnus

In G1, Repugnus is part of a little known Autobot sub-group called the Monsterbots. This was a trio of Autobots that transformed into monsters. They came around in Season 4 of the toys. I don’t remember them appearing in the limited 3-episode arc “Rebirth” that made up the entirety of US Season 4 cartoons. They may have had more of an impact in the comics and the Japanese continuity, but I don’t care enough about the group to look it up.

All 3 Monsterbots are now released in the Prime Wars Trilogy. Both Twinferno and Grotusque were relesaed in Titans Return. In Power of the Primes we get Repugnus. This is yet another Amazon exclusive. I guess Hasbro figured there would be a limited audience for this guy. For once I agree with them.

As of this writing, I still have not opened Repugnus. Based on pics I’ve seen, he’s a slight re-work off the Twinferno mold. The same goes for Grotusque too. In Prime Wars Trilogy, all 3 Monsterbots share the same overall motif and base mold, but HasTak did add or modify enough mold bits to make each unique. I am glad this trio has an update in this modern era for Transformers. But no biggie if you missed out on any of these 3.

Pic of Repugnus in the box below.

Oh, I also have a Titan Master Repugnus. This is still unopened. It may never get opened.

Scraper

Here we have another NBK knock-off product. NBK Scraper is a knock-off of Generation Toy Scraper, who is an homage to Scrapper. You gotta love the names of 3rd party and 4th party products. In this case they dropped one p; the name still works, everyone still knows who this is supposed to be. NBK is too lazy to even come up with their own knock-off name.

Scraper is my 2nd NBK knock-off, after Bulldozer. Scraper is packed in alt mode, and he is constructed just as well.

I really like the look of Scraper in alt mode. This is unmistakably Scrapper. In this mode, everything tabs together nicely. The giant shovel is at the right tolerance, and can be lifted up to stay up if so desired. Scraper rolls well on a flat surface.

Scraper comes with only 1 accessory, his pistol. In alt mode, it can be attached underneath the vehicle. Pic below.

Transformation to robot mode follows the usual Scrapper scheme. Two features are worthy of note, however. One is the arm transformation. They rotate to the reverse direction for robot mode. And in turn, the ladders on them needs to be rotated and flipped. Very cool. The other feature is with the driver area piece that sits on the back in robot mode. This piece is attached to a folding mechanism, allowing for different placement of it in alt, robot, and combined mode.

Like I said already, construction of the figure is good. So this transformation is not frustrating to do at all. Couple that with a familiar scheme, Scraper’s transformation is completely intuitive. But at the same time, Generation Toy incorporated some refreshing design choices. This is a fun toy.

Robot mode is pretty good for the most part. The joints work well, and figure construction is good enough to have him hold poses. Articulation is limited, mostly because of the giant back kibble of a shovel, and the two huge wheels on the shoulders. But this is part of his G1 design. He appears a bit stocky from how Scrapper should look, and that’s unfortunate. I do wish his proportions are more in tune with Scrapper’s lean G1 look. Bulldozer does not have such proportion issues, and for that reason alone I think Bulldozer has the better robot mode.

Transformation to leg mode for the combined form is pretty straightfoward. Looking at the pics alone is enough to see how it goes, so here they are.

All in all, I’m very impressed with how everything tabs together for this leg mode. This is great engineering design by Generation Toys. Of special mention is that the robot arms come around the back and tab together to form the heel (see above pic). The arms tab in to each other, and tab onto the body. There is ankle pivot for the leg mode, and which translates to waist pivot in robot mode. This is a very effective transformation to the combined form.

I’m so impressed with Bulldozer and Scraper already, that at this point I have made a conscious decision to buy the rest of this set. The other 4 figs will come in later months.

Much more to come next month. Til then… 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.
 

Some impressive figures arrived in March. And like June of last year, this is another month where 3P products outnumber official products. Is this a new trend among hardcore TF collectors? Only time will tell. But for now let’s focus our optics on the goodies below.

• Titans Return Sixshot, Toys R Us, $46.99

• Masterpiece Grapple, hlj.com, ¥11200 (about $102.72)

• MakeToys Gundog, thechosenprime.com, $79.99

• Fans Toys Mercenary, thechosenprime.com, $82.99

• Warbotron Air Burst, bbts.com, $71.19

Sixshot

Let’s first take a look at Sixshot. This is an official Hasbro update of the character. There was a time when I was really hoping for Hasbro or Takara to do their modern interpretation of Sixshot, something I have expressed all in way back in 2009. This became reality 8 years later in 2017. However, one third party beat them to the punch. I featured MMC Hexatron in a previous post. I bought the figure in 2014, but I believe he was released in 2013. So Hasbro/Takara is late to the party. That kind of took some of the hoopla out of Sixshot’s release now. And fans will undoubtedly compare Sixshot to Hexatron.

I will say this now: Sixshot is not as good as Hexatron. If you want a MP scaled Sixshot with better construction quality, more detail, and superior transformation, Hexatron is the way to go. When the two are compared side by side, Sixshot feels like the toy while Hexatron feels like the collector’s piece. But this doesn’t mean that Sixshot is a bad figure in any way, shape, or form. I will outline some of the pros and cons of Sixshot below.

Pros:

• At only $46.99, better value over Hexatron
• There are some specific areas of Sixshot where the engineering has pleasantly surprised me, not many of these areas though
• Comes with a Titan Master (or Headmaster) figure, though hardcore G1 purists will argue this is a con
• In each of the six modes, there is a different place to store the Titan Master

Cons:

• Detail not as good as Hexatron
• Engineering not as good as Hexatron
• Scale may be an issue; too big for CHUG, and too small to be MP

I would say that if you already have Hexatron, you may want to skip Sixshot. But if you don’t collect 3P products, or if you’re just a completist, then by all means pick up Sixshot. He’s a perfectly solid figure with no severe shortcomings.

Grapple

The only other official product this month is MP Grapple. Grapple is a repaint of MP Inferno, which was purchased last month. To this day I still have not opened Grapple. I have been meaning to, but I just haven’t got around to it. I’m gonna trust that he’s as good as Inferno. In fact, some fans have said that he’s better. I’m told that Takara reworked enough bits on Grapple that he feels like a different figure. I can’t confirm nor deny that. I will open him soon and see for myself.

Gundog

Let’s now turn our attention to the 3P products of the month. But first, I want to mention a new online TF retailer that I decided to try: The Chosen Prime. I have bought from them before, though it was through Amazon, for a legend class Acid Storm. This month is the first time I ordered from them direct. And let me say this: they have surpassed all my expectations! The items were carefully packed and delivered on time. There was a mix-up about how I wanted the items shipped, but a short email to their customer service quickly resolved the issue. Since then, they have become one of my trusted go-to stores online for collector grade TFs. Bravo Chosen Prime!

First item from Chosen Prime is MakeToys Gundog, their tribute to G1 Hound. Hound needs no introduction. He got significant screen time in the first 3 eps of G1, “More Than Meets The Eye”. It looks like he was gonna be best friends with Spike, until later Bumblebee took that role. Hound is perhaps best known for his hologram projections, which he used to fool Decepticons time and time again. As a G1 toy, Hound is memorable as only one of a few Jeep type vehicles in all of G1. As of this writing, there is still not an official Masterpiece update of Hound. So it’s left up to third parties to step up to the plate.

There are currently two flavors of 3P Hound: MakeToys Gundog and Fans Toys Willis. I looked at the pictures over and over, and considered which one I wanted to represent my Hound. In the end I went with Gundog. I won’t bore you all with what went into this selection process, but suffice it to say it was not an easy decision. They both have their pros and cons. It comes down to mostly aesthetics. Gundog represented the G1 toy a bit more and that won me over.

I am very happy with Gundog. I opted for the cartoon accurate green version (over the toy accurate dark green version). He comes packed in robot mode. The details in the head mold is excellent, and the design is unmistakably Hound. He’s got enough articulation to satisfy those fans who like dynamic poses in their figures. I do have two small gripes about the robot mode. The legs can appear a bit thick. And the upper portion of the figure does not appear to be able to snap in with the lower half, resulting in a figure that like to bend forward at the waist when it’s being handled.

Gundog’s transformation is one of the most ingenious that I have seen in recent years. The arms have this very original unfolding mechanism that flats out into the base of the Jeep. I love Gundog in the alt mode and I find no weaknesses in this mode whatsoever. He rolls fine on a flat surface. Gundog comes with many accessories, and in alt mode is where all these accessories truly make an impact. Below I have some Minions cruising around in Gundog.

Mercenary

Next up is Fans Toys Mercenary, also purchased from The Chosen Prime. I had already committed to the Fans Toys Insections, starting with Grenadier (Bombshell). By March of 2017, it was getting difficult to secure purchases of the Fans Toys Insecticons. Most hardcore fans seem to agree that FT does the best 3P MP-style Insecticons, and these figures were selling fast. When I saw that Chosen Prime had a copy of Mercenary remaining, I quickly jumped at it.

As you can no doubt see, Mercenary is Shrapnel, unofficial leader of our favorite robotic insect pests. Fans Toys did a remarkable job with this figure. He looks cartoon accurate in both modes, and in bug mode he feels G1 toy accurate as well. These FT insects may be small, but they got some heft to them. The weight and feel seem to suggest that some diecast parts are used. Transformation follows the same overall G1 motif for Sharpnel. However, there are some minor mechanics that you should watch for if you decide to get this figure and transform it. Also, since there are diecast parts, transformation can be more difficult than you might expect. It’s hard for me to explain this in words, but transforming and manipulating diecast takes more effort than plastic. But don’t let these annoyances stop you if you want MP style Insecticons in your collection. Shrapnel looks fantastic. The beetle horns are painted an excellent silver chrome (unlike the FansProject Insecticons, which came with a dull grey and had to be custom painted silver). He scales accurately with other MP Decepticons. Construction of the figure is solid. All these positives are wrapped up in a package of around $80. You will not be disappointed with Mercenary.

Air Burst

The final entry of the month is Air Burst. It’s also the final piece that I needed to complete my Warbotron Combaticons. Ironically, Air Burst (aka Blast Off) was the first figure released in the Warbotron line. Back in G1, Blast Off was my first Combaticon purchased. So why did I get all the other Warbotron figs first? All the Warbotron figs were already released when I started buying them. I was recommended to go with Sly Strike (aka Swindle) first, since many fans have voiced that he’s the best one of the bunch. And also because I found him at a good sale. Then my wife got me Whirlwind (aka Vortex) and Heavy Noisy (aka Brawl) as gifts. Fierce Attack (aka Onslaught) was found at a sale shortly after. And this leaves only Air Burst. I actually found him at a sale too, and got him sometime late in 2016. I held back on shipping him because I thought I was gonna get more items. As it turns out, I didn’t. So I waited to ship him all the way til March of 2017 for nothing. Super bad planning on my part.

I thought I was going to be disappointed with Air Burst, since many fans have expressed dissatisfaction of sorts. I’m not sure what everyone’s complaining about, because I love the figure! Just to be clear, I got V1 of this figure, and not the supposedly fixed V2. (Sidebar: Earlier releases of Fierce Attack comes with V2 parts, but unfortunately I was not aware of that and got a later release that doesn’t 🙁 ) I don’t detect any issues to have a crying fit. I love both the alt mode and the robot mode. I love the way he transforms – simple enough to be fun but complex enough to be satisfying. I have no issues with his appearance. He’s very G1 accurate as far as I’m concerned. Warbotron figs are known to have minor tolerance issues, but I detect nothing of the sort on my Air Burst. The arm connection mechanism for the combined mode is what is supposedly fixed for V2. I dunno, I combined Bruticus with my V1 Air Burst and everything seems fine. I guess my only gripe about Air Burst is that there’s a bit of puzzle forming, in that the rear thrusters form the arm cannons. I would have liked to see the thrusters incorporated into the transformation and be parts in robot mode, but it’s something I can live with.

Now for some group pics. Air Burst looks great with his fellow Combaticon cohorts. Check it out!

Now that the team is complete, it’s time combine! Combaticons, transform and merge into Bruticus!

I love this combiner set. Warbotron did justice to my favorite combiner team from G1. I have absolutely no regrets with buying this set for my MP styled Combaticons. I know there are some newer 3P offerings coming for the Combaticons. But only time will tell if any of the newer sets are hands down superior to Warbotron. For now, these are my MP Combaticons.

One last thing: the boxes for each Warbotron fig can combine and form a giant piece of artwork. It’s kinda cool. Check out the pic below.

Below are some extra pics of the three 3P figs this month in their alt modes.

That wraps it up for March of 2017. Until next time, 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.

Finally! We have come to the end of 2015. Here are the purchases for the last month of 2015.

• Combiner Wars Devastator, tfsource.com, $109.99

• Masterpiece Exhaust, hlj.com, $44.51

• FansProject Function-X4 Sigma L, tfsource.com, $69.99

• Warbotron Whirlwind, gift

This may be the first month were I only got Decepticons! Long live Decepticons!

First on the list is Combiner Wars Constructicons and Devastator. This group needs no introduction. The Constructicons were the first combiner group to debut in G1, and I’m glad Hasbro is doing this team justice by giving them unique molds that are completely different from the rest of the Combiner Wars line. I reported on this set back in this post and this post, and at the very last month in 2015 I finally have this awesome set in my hands. For it’s 2015 Black Friday sale, TFSource was letting this go at a very reasonable price. I wasted no time buying these Constructicons as soon as I saw the sale.

Individually, each Constructicon look quite nice their vehicle modes. They are true to their G1 appearance, and build quality is solid and robust. In the individual robot modes, some figures are better than others. Long Haul is one fig that looks quite awful in robot mode. And that is clearly because of the function he serves in combined form. And that combined form is the main attraction of the set. So without further ado, I give you… Devastator!

Now that is an awesome Devastator! He is freakin’ huge! Check out the pic below of him next to a standard deluxe size CHUG Seeker.

Hasbro has done some pretty stupid stuff with combining robots in the past, such as the Movie Devastator and Power Core Combiners. You may be left jaded after buying those products, but believe me, all is forgiven after seeing THIS Devastator in person. I don’t know if this figure is meant to scale with CHUG or MP figs, but it doesn’t matter. He’s so big and tall that his size would be appropriate when displayed next to either set. This combiner is solid. The leg combining mechanism is quite clever. It’s easy to do, and at the same time provides a most solid connection. The body and arm connections are more standard fare when compared to the 3rd party Devastators, such as TFC Hercules and MakeToys Giant.

Much like all the modern Constructicons, Devastator’s head is part of Hook, and no connection pieces are required between any of the six components. The only extraneous pieces are the forearms, fists, chest shield, and Devastator’s gun. Hasbro has designed places for them in alt mode, and they can be used as accessories in robot mode. Glaringly missing are the individual hand held pistols for each figure in robot mode. Not a big deal if you ask me. In G1, it was difficult to remember who had which gun. And this set was meant to be displayed combined in the awesomeness that is Devastator.

Devastator has got some limited poseability. He’s got all the standard articulation points that you would expect, but as a combiner the range of poses would be more limited than a standalone figure. Personally I don’t think that’s an issue. This figure is so big, so solid, and looks so G1 that you have to get it if you call yourself a G1 fan. Sure, there are some 3rd parties out there now that are doing Constructicons that may be superior (such as ToyWorld and Generation Toys), but their sets would cost 6 times as much. For the price, the Hasbro set can’t be beat. Get this now if you haven’t already. You won’t regret it.

Next up we have Masterpiece Exhaust. I’m not familiar with this character at all. His origin may have been from the Japanese continuation of G1, but I could be wrong. I got him because I love the MP Wheeljack mold. Plus HLJ was having a pretty good sale on the figure. Exhaust looks absolutely stunning in his alt mode. His flashy and vibrant colors adds a lot to the already beautiful Lancia Stratos Turbo. This alone is worth the price of admission. I like the new head mold in robot mode, and he comes with plenty of extra accessories, including Wheeljack’s “Immobilizer” from the famous G1 episode of the same name. Construction and transformation is just as solid as Wheeljack. I highly recommend this figure even if you already have Wheeljack.

Now onto the 3rd party offerings for the month. Function-X4 Sigma L is by FansProject, and this is their homage to Mindwipe. Function-X is the label that FP uses for all their HeadMaster figures. I was really impressed with Function-X3 Smart Robin (aka Brainstorm). I have G1 Mindwipe from back in the 80s (and still in pretty good shape too), and TFSource had a sale on this Sigma L. For all these reasons, I got the figure. Overall, I say he’s ok. I like the robot mode, and I definitely like the twin shotguns, even though he had nothing of the sort back in G1. In this mode, the wings kinda get in the way, so it becomes difficult to have him posed with the arms raised in any way. He looks fairly cool in bat mode. Construction of the figure is solid. I was hoping that Sigma L would offer some new ingenious mechanisms in transformation like Smart Robin, but that’s not really the case here. It seems like FP decided to give their own spin on this figure. Like they took Dracula and vampires and adapted that whole motif to a HeadMaster robot, the result of that being Sigma L. I applaud them for giving Mindwipe a new spin, but all in all I’m not quite sure it works. There are no obvious shortcomings with the figure, but at the same time it doesn’t wow you either. I guess I give this fig a weak recommendation. If you need a Mindwipe to complete your HeadMaster collection and you find this fig at less than retail, then go for it. Oh, and the name. Why he’s called Sigma L is beyond me. When I see Function and Sigma mentioned in the same phrase, I keep thinking this is some kind of math equation here. Like let’s get the Sum L from this Function X.

Last but not least, there is Whirlwind, Warbotron’s interpretation of Vortex. Whirlwind is a Christmas gift from my wife. This is my 2nd fig in the Warbotron Combaticons, after Sly Strike. I like Whirlwind. I don’t think he’s as good as Sly Strike, but he’s solid nonetheless. He looks great in robot mode. I like all the different ways that the helicopter blades can be configured in this mode. You could leave them on the back, like the Vortex G1 look. Or you could put two on each forearm, and have them point back up the shoulder in rest position, or have them point forward like he’s Wolverine. Or use two in each hand (one up one down), so it looks like he’s wielding 2 twin blades, like if Darth Maul wielded 2 twin-bladed lightsabers. I like his colors in this mode, very G1. Some G1 purists complain about the clear orange canopy on the chest in robot mode, but I think it’s fine. I don’t think it’s distracting at all. In alt mode, the helicopter comes together quite nicely. My biggest gripe in this mode is that, when you spin the main rotors, they would often times make contact with the tail fin rotors. I also don’t like how the front nose cone area of the helicopter is formed by attaching a shield/pistol accessory. Makes me feel like he’s a bit of a parts-former. Constructions wise he’s pretty solid for the most part, but there are more tolerance issues when compared to Sly Strike. Some accessories don’t peg in as well as they should. But overall I still recommend Whirlwind. He’s a worthy addition to your MP-scaled Decepticon lineup.

Below is a pic of some of these figs, in what appears like a bunch of random Decepticons jammed together for one photo shoot. I had these figs scattered about here and there at the time, so I gathered them all up for a pic. Clockwise from top: Sigma L, Scavenger (from CW Devastator), Exhaust, and Megatronus (who snuck in there for no good reason).

Since Whirlwind is not in the pic above, he gets a solo shot.

He also gets a shot of him looking up at Devastator, waiting for the rest of his teammates so Bruticus can devastate Devastator.

Not only was this month all Decepticons, this month was also all on-line purchases. No in-store purchases whatsoever. Not too surprising considering the items acquired. And not counting Whirlwind since he was a gift, all figures were bought on sale. I am the ultimate TF bargain hunter!

That is all for 2015. I’m gonna compile some stats for 2015 and have them ready for the next post. Stay tuned my fellow TransFans. 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!

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!

Happy Friday the 13th! You might think you will be plagued by some bad luck and run into some freaky stuff, but the only horrors you can potentially experience today is if you don’t act quickly on these Amazon Exclusive TFs, and they run out!

G2 Bruticus

First up is a G2 redeco of the upcoming Fall of Cybertron Bruticus figure. This team of 5 Combatcions combines to form the mighty Bruticus.

Apparently there are three versions of this set. There is the standard mass retail set that I covered in this post. Then there is the San Diego Comic Con Exclusive G1 colored set. Now Amazon is offering a G2 colored set. Hasbro sure knows how to milk it. Long time readers know that I have repeatedly mentioned that the Combaticons are my favorite combiner group, both in this post and in this post. And for that reason alone, I’ll probably buy all 3 sets. Will Hasbro put out a 4th redeco? Wouldn’t surprise me.

Click here to order your G2 Bruticus from Amazon. Pre-order went up last Friday morning, then it stopped after a few hours. It finally went up again yesterday, which is when I got mine. Gets yours while they last!

Optimus Prime Jetwing Movie Deco

This is a redeco of a Optimus Prime figure that was previously only available in Japan. I think MSRP of the Japanese version was something in the range of $250. I thought of buying it then, but the price was too much of a turnoff. Glad I waited, since this is like half as cheap!

Many fans consider the Japanese version of this to be the best transformable Movie Optimus Prime figure made. I think the base figure is from the ROTF leader mold, but it’s modified slightly to accommodate the Jetwing. This redeco does look a little different from the Japanese version. Personally, I like the G1 blue stripes on the wings, but not sure if I’m feeling the gold and blue on the Jetwing guns. Still, the only other Jetwing OP I have is a tiny commander-sized figure. So I don’t mind finally getting a leader-sized one.

Get the Amazon Jetwing Optimus Prime here.

Get yours now before they’re gone! Transform and Roll Out!

I am a big fan of War For Cybertron. Later this year, perhaps around fall, the sequel Fall of Cybertron will be released. But what’s even better is that there will be figures from FOC! Just like WFC, figures from the sequel will be released in the Generations line.

The following pics are previews of all the deluxe figures planned for FOC. While we only got 5 figures from WFC (Optimus, Megatron, Bumblebee, Soundwave, Cliffjumper), we’re gonna get so much more for FOC! That’s right TransFans. Hasbro loves you. They’re even doing a combiner team that really combines! No release dates are given yet, but most likely the 1st wave will hit store shelves around the same time as the game. Fall of 2012 will be the Fall of Cybertron! Hey, that makes me wonder if there are seasons on Cybertron.

All pics are courtesy of the Transformers Facebook page.

Jazz

Optimus Prime

Shockwave

Blast Off

Brawl

Onslaught

Swindle

Vortex

Bruticus

Kickback

Starscream

Sideswipe

Ultra Magnus

Fireflight

Fireflight doesn’t look right to me. I think this figure makes a better Strafe, with that head mold, alt mode, and the colors. But I like Aerialbots too, so I can live with it.

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting all of them. Transform and Roll Out!