February of 2015 was all deluxe figs from Combiner Wars. In fact, the 4 figs below are all from the same wave.

• Combiner Wars Firefly, Toys R Us, $16.99

• Combiner Wars Skydive, Target, $14.24

• Combiner Wars Alpha Bravo, Target, $14.24

• Combiner Wars Dragstrip, Target, $14.24

Firefly here is obviously Fireflight. Hasbro usually only changes names for trademark reasons. If anything, I would have thought that Firefly is a trademarked term. But a quick Google for Fireflight leads me to some rock band, so I guess they took that name. In any case, Firefly is the red and white F-4 Phantom from G1 that forms Superion’s right arm. This Firefly figure is not bad. Kinda simple to transform, but comes together as a jet nicely. Proportions in robot mode is also not half bad. Skydive is very similar to Firefly. Transformation wise, they share the same scheme. Skydive is remolded slightly to look more like a F-16. Firefly feels more robust out of the two, but that may just be the ones I own. Overall, these 2 are fun to play with. They are toys that you can just pick up and play. All the deluxe CW figs can form an arm or a leg. In limb mode, Firefly and Skydive adequately does the job. I plan to do another post about the CW combined forms, so I’ll go into more detail then.

Alpha Bravo is not an Aerialbot from G1. In fact, he does not have any origin in G1. They totally made up this figure for Combiner Wars. Hasbro would later more appropriately repaint this figure into Blades and Vortex. But for now, we get Alpha Bravo. I’m guessing this is just a ploy to sell more figs. Alpha Bravo is not a bad fig. I like both the robot mode and alt mode. His transformation is mechanically a bit more impressive than Firefly or Skydive. I like the toy, but you can pass on this fig if you’re a G1 purist. Hasbro would later release Air Raid in the next wave, and Slingshot (released as Quickslinger) would come later as an Amazon exclusive. So don’t feel like you have to get Alpha Bravo just to complete Superion. Unless you’re a completist.

Last in the wave is Dragstrip. I don’t know why Hasbro decided to release 3 Aerialbots and 1 Stunticon. CW is targeted after G1 Fanboys who want everything 80s accurate. They should have just released all 4 Aerialbots in this wave (and replace Alpha Bravo with Slingshot). Regardless, we get Dragstrip now. He’s pretty cool. The figure feels solid, and transformation from alt mode to robot mode is enjoyable. I like the F1 alt mode, and the robot mode ain’t too shabby. A very playable figure.

So that’s it for Feb of 2015. 4 figs from Combiner Wars. A pretty light month in terms of TF purchases.

Transform and Roll Out.

As promised, here are more pics of Transform Mission Menasor.

This is a new unknown company in a market where third party products are totally saturated. It remains to be seen if they can compete adequately with the current existing players. I am eager to see color pics of their products. I will of course post those pics as soon as they surface somewhere.

I am really hoping that Transform Mission will do the Stunticons justice. Don’t get me wrong. The existing offerings of our favorite Decepticon racers aren’t too shabby, but none of them are perfect. The FansProject Intimidator set is great in combined form, but I find issues with them individually. The limb pieces are small and too tough to transform for their size, while Diesel (Motormaster) is way too complicated to be any fun. The Hasbro Combiner Wars set has the opposite problem. They are fun to play with individually, but the combined form leaves much to be desired. I am hoping Transform Mission will rectify all these problems and give us the perfect Stunticons.

Transform and Roll Out.

It’s been a while since I did a post about what’s on my shelf. So I’m doing one today.

Same pic, different angle.

From left to right

Lower shelf: Thrilling 30 Rhinox, Thrilling 30 Rattrap, Mastermind Creations Felisaber

I especially like the three gestalts on the top shelf. Feral Rex and Giant have been featured elsewhere before in this blog so I won’t go into detail again. Combiner Wars Menasor is Hasbro’s official update of the Stunticons in combined form. Compared to Fans Project’s Intimidator, Menasor has it’s pros and cons. Individually I like the Hasbro figures better. They are larger, sturdier, easier to transform, and more fun to play with. However in combined form, FP has the better looking Menasor. Intimidator also stays together better than Combiner Wars Menasor, as the Hasbro figure feels like it could quickly fall apart. However I should point out that the Hasbro figures feel more like a true combiner. The leg components are not simply adding on top of Motormaster’s legs, like in FP’s offering.

Poor Rattrap and Rhinox. They are the only good guys here. Technically they are not Autobots, so I don’t have a single Autobot in this post. Decepticons forever!

Transform and Roll Out.

Not a whole lot of TF action this month. All purchases in August are for 3rd party products.

• FansProject Down Force, tfsource.com, $59.95

• FansProject Last Chance, tfsource.com, $59.95

• Beelzeboss Heroic Duo Custom Kit Version 2.0, tfsource.com, $33.95

I opened both Down Force and Last Chance, respectively Drag Strip and Dead End. I like these two way better than the first two that they released (Car Crash and T-Bone). The design of Down Force and Last Chance are much better. They don’t feel like repaints of each other, unlike Car Crash and T-Bone. Also, some joints on Car Crash and T-Bone are way too tight. On this new pair, some joints can still be kinda tight, but much improved. Down Force and Last Chance also feel a tad bigger than the first figures, but they are still smaller than your standard Hasbro deluxe. I would recommend buying only for those fans that really like the Stunticons. Now I’m looking forward to FP’s Motormaster homage to complete the set.

The only other purchase this month is the Heroic Duo Custom Kit Version 2 by Beelzeboss. I saw a review of this some time ago, and felt I had to get it. I opened the set, but haven’t tried it yet. The kit is a bunch of accessories designed to be used with CHUG Sideswipe and Red Alert. Included are 2 rifles, 2 missile launchers, 4 shoulder pads for the missile launchers, 1 new head mold for Red Alert, and 2 pile drivers for Sideswipe. This is Version 2 of this set, which improves upon Version 1 with some minor mold modifications, and molding with plastic color instead of painting. The kit looks cool, but the price seems a tad high for a bunch of add-ons.

That’s it for August. Two 3rd party figs and one 3rd party add-on kit. There was nothing to buy in the stores. I did find some Target exclusive Beast Hunter figures. I even bought the Target exclusive BH Abominus set. But I’m kinda sick of BH toys. Knowing me, I’ll probably play with the Abominus set a little when I first open it, then it would just sit somewhere and collect dust. So I returned it to Target.

Hopefully I’ll have more TFs next month. I still got a bunch of figs on pre-order. I hope some of them will come in next month, but you never know. I only find BH crap these days in the stores, so I’m not counting on finding anything good in mass retail. Historically, in a non-Movie year, August is always bad for TFs. I guess this year is no exception.

Transform and Roll Out.

I got a whole bunch of crap on pre-order. So much that it makes sense to make a post dedicated on just this topic. So here they are.

Takara MP-17 Masterpiece Prowl

Takara MP-18 Masterpiece Bluestreak

FansProject Causality CA-11 Last Chance

FansProject Causality CA-12 Down Force

Mastermind Creations Reformatted R-01 Terminus Hexatron

Mastermind Creations Reformatted – Feral Rex – R-02 Talon – Aerial Assaulter

Mastermind Creations Reformatted – Feral Rex – R-03 Bovis – Supply Specialist

MakeToys MB-01-C Mobine Paladin / Chaos

MakeToys MB-01-SP1 Mobine Missile Launcher Jungle Type

Beelzeboss Heroic Duo Custom Kit Version 2.0

RENDERFORM: GOLD SCOUT UPGRADE KIT + BONUS WEAPON

ToyWorld TW-T03 Trace – Gestalt Part 3

That’s a lot of stuff! With the exception of the 2 MPs, they are all 3rd party products. It seems like everyone wants a piece of custom TF action. Perhaps this is a more lucrative business than I thought. Only Primus knows when all this stuff will get released though. I hope it’s soon.

On unrelated news, I will be attending Fanime 2013 this Sunday. Look for a coverage soon… Transform and Roll Out.

This week I will be receiving 2 figures from FansProject, T-Bone and Car Crash. These are obvious homages to G1 Stunticons. Growing up, this was the favorite combiner team for most of my friends. And for good reasons. They are all high-end sports cars (with the exception of Motormaster). They are all kick-ass rebels, even choosing to ignore Megatron’s orders from time to time. And Menasor could possibly be the most powerful combiner in G1. In the cartoons, I don’t remember him losing any fights to any of the other combined gestalts.

Since Hasbro will not give us proper CHUG remakes to this fan-favorite combiner team, it is once again up to FansProject to step up to the plate. I will be receiving T-Bone (Wildrider) and Car Crash (Breakdown) very soon, and I look forward to checking them out for myself. I’ll make another post when I get them, but for now, check out these pics below.

On completely unrelated news, March Madness 2013 is currently going on. I watched as many games as I could have starting this past Thursday. First 2 rounds are now over (I know, they renamed it Round 2 and 3, but these new names just don’t work for me) and we’re down to the Sweet 16 as I write this. The obvious Cinderella that is getting everyone’s attention is FGCU, or Florida Gulf Coast Univerisy, a 15 seed! Has a 15 seed ever made it to the Sweet 16? I honestly don’t know. They took down goliath Georgetown and up and coming San Diego St to get here. Safe to say that no one’s heard of FGCU til this weekend, not counting the locals. Congrats to the Eagles!

But on a more personal note, my bracket is still in good shape! For my Final Four, I picked Louisville, Ohio St, Florida, and Indiana. All 4 schools are still alive in the tournament. I can’t even remember the last time I did this well. Last year, I picked Missouri to win it all and they were bounced in the 1st Round! The year before that, I can’t remember who I picked, but I remember not doing too well. The thing that sticks out from that year is UCLA winning in Round 1 against Michigan St, but then losing to Florida in Round 2. I remember following the scores on my phone for that Florida game. The Ex wanted to go to Whole Foods so we did. I let her do her thing while I just followed the game on my phone. UCLA did even worse this year by making a Round 1 Exit. That hurts my Bruin pride, but I didn’t project them to go far anyway, since Florida was waiting for them in Round 2. And besides, I got a real shot at winning the office pool. Currently I’m in 2nd place, but I have the most potential points left. I won’t say what is my pick to win it all in fear of jinxing it, but right now they sure look like the team to beat.

Long live March Madness! Transform and Roll Out!