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 knew this day was coming. One purchase here, another one there, and before you knew it, I have amassed an army of 500 Transformers.

As of 8/13/2010, the TF count was 300. Almost 22 months later, I bought 200 more TFs. Doing the math and rounding down, that’s about 9 figures a month in this time span. That also translates to about 2 figures a week, or roughly 105 figures for a year.

9 TFs a month in about the last 2 years is definitely more than 4 a month in the 6+ years prior to that. What exactly accounted for this increase? I’m trying to draw some conclusions by looking at my TF List. It’s too bad I didn’t keep records of the dates of my purchases until this year, but I can still determine approximately what were the figures bought since August of 2010. There were about 43 DOTM figures, 23 TF Prime figures, 16 PCCs, 34 Reveal the Shields, and 31 Generations. All these I’m pretty certain came at or after Aug 2010. That brings the total to almost 150. Add in some misc purchases here and there, such as Star Wars and Marvel crossovers, the later figures from ROTF, some newer MPs, and 3rd party products, it’s easy to see how that brings the total to 200.

So what does this all mean? Well for one thing, it means that Hasbro released a freakin’ boatload of Transformers in this time span. The 3rd Transformers movie probably has something to do with that. And it also means I decided to buy many of the figures released. But looking back, I can’t think of that many TFs that I regret buying during this stretch. Sure there are some figures here and there that I wish I can return to the store, like some PCCs and some Star Wars stuff. But for the most part, I’m glad I bought most of these 200. In the last 22 months, it was rare for me to be sorely disappointed with a purchase. The logical conclusion to draw here is that the quality of the figures have really gone up.

Another big reason for all these TFs is I started hunting for them at discount stores (eg. Ross, Marshalls, TJMaxx, etc). Generally speaking, deluxes are usually $6 or $7 at these places, while Voyagers typically run for $10. Scouts or smaller are at $5 or less. At these prices, I don’t even blink and just grab the figure to checkout whenever I see something I want. And I found just about everything that was in mass retail at the discount stores, like the Movie figures, PCCs, Generations, the Crossovers, and Reveal the Shields (RtS). In fact, for RtS, very often I only found them at discount stores. At such low prices, I bought multiples of many figures, mostly from the CHUG-verse. Movie figures are generally very affordable regardless of where you buy them. However, with some TFs, there’s no getting around paying full MSRP. This is the case with TF Prime figures, the MPs, and of course the 3rd party products.

Still, 500 TFs is a lot. So this year I’m making an effort to not buy as many. As a rule, I stopped buying multiples (unless there’s a good reason, like for example the Vehicons, which sadly I still haven’t found any as of this writing). However, there are some good stuff on the horizon, such as the upcoming FOC figures, more TF Prime toys, and some Asia only exclusives. Keeping that count from growing will be difficult.

In the comments for the 300 post, Gemini said it won’t be long before I have 400, and danbugman said 300 won’t be nearly enough. Oh how right they were. 500 and growing… Long Live TFs! Transform and Roll Out!

Back in August of 2011, I reviewed the Kre-O Starscream set in jet mode. Now I’m gonna review the robot mode, 9 months later. As I mentioned in the jet mode review, Kre-O figures do not transform, which is a shame. In December of last year, I took apart the jet mode and built the robot mode. Here we go with the review.

Starscream looks quite nice in robot mode. I like the level of detail. His appearance in this mode is obviously G1 inspired, with the intake on the shoulders, the cockpit down the chest, and the wings on the back. The overall shade of grey with red and blue touches here and there is also very G1. And if you still need further evidence of his G1 roots, just check out the head. With the exception of Masterpiece and CHUG Starscreams, the Kre-O has the most G1-looking head of all the Starscreams made. I like the weapons on each arm. They don’t really resemble his G1 null rays, but they got a charm of their own. On his right arm there appear to be twin machine guns, and on the left arm there are a cluster of 4 missiles. Don’t mess with Screamer!

The robot mode uses a lot less pieces than the jet mode. I’m just estimating here, but I would say there are around 30 unused pieces in robot mode.

Starscream in robot mode is quite poseable. He’s got joints at the shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, ankles, and neck. With the exception of the elbows and knees, all joints I listed are on ball joints. For a building block toy, the level of poseability is impressive. Check out some pics below.

Here are some pics of the back. The wings can be moved forward and back. The thrusters on the upper back can also be raised and lowered.

Here is a shot for size comparison. As you can see, the Kre-O figure is pretty large.

For the robot mode, I do have a gripe about the joints. Like I mentioned already, I had this in robot mode since December. At first the joints felt really tight, and the figure can hold poses well. I didn’t play with him all that much between now and then, just had him posed on the shelf this whole time. Now the hip joints feels quite loose. Kre-O Starscream does weigh a little more than your average TF, and over time it does feel like the joints won’t support the weight. If you decide to build the robot mode, I would recommend that you don’t have him posed in robot mode for too long. I’m going to take this apart soon and store it in the box. Maybe in the future when I build the robot again, the joints would be ok. But this is not something I can confirm at this time.

Also, the quality of the head piece feels poor. I mentioned how I like that it’s G1, but the detail on the face looks pretty bad. The helmet portion also looks like it could be sharper. I know it’s hard to see from my pics, but believe me that the head could look better. This is nowhere near the quality of Masterpiece head molds, which is about the same size for Starscream. Perhaps a customizer can swap a Masterpiece head onto the Kre-O.

Between the robot mode and jet mode, I definitely like the jet mode better. Overall it feels more solid, and uses more pieces. The robot mode’s not bad, but if I can only pick one I would build the jet mode.

The Kre-O Starscream set can be found fairly cheap now at many places. I’ve seen it for about $20 at Walmart. My friend Gemini said he found his for $10. At these prices I would definitely recommend the set if you like building block toys. It doesn’t transform, but you got two modes to build, and all pieces are fully compatible with other building block toys out there, like Legos and Megabloks. I’m hoping in the future, Hasbro will come out with Kre-Os that can really transform. Perhaps I will design a Starscream figure that can transform, using these Kre-O pieces with Legos. That sounds like a fun project. I might try that when I have some time. 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!

“You break it, I’ll remake it.” Any TransFan worth his energon can immediately identify which legendary TF this motto belongs to. As the Autobot’s chief medical officer and primary physician, Ratchet is a major character across all Transformers universes. As far as I know, he made an appearance in every TF continuity. And more often than not, Ratchet plays a major role as part of the core group of Autobots belonging to Optimus Prime’s inner circle. This is seen in G1, the Movie-verse, TF Animated, TF Prime, and the TF War For Cybertron video game. Always a healer first, Ratchet is most often seen tending to comrades wounded in battle. However, Ratchet does possess decent fighting abilities, and is not afraid to get his hands dirty in a fight when the situation requires it. Ratchet is a favorite of comic writer Simon Furmon. In both the original US G1 Marvel comics and the IDW G1 reboot, Ratchet has a significant part to play in the fight against the Decepticons. His courage and loyalty is unquestioned.

So it goes without saying that I would have many figures of such an iconic character in the TF Universe. Below are some pics of all the Ratchets in my collection.

Front row (left to right): TF Animated Activator, TF Animated Deluxe (Earth mode), TF Animated Deluxe (Cybertron mode), TF Prime Deluxe, Universe Deluxe. Back row (left to right): Movie 1 Voyager, ROTF Deluxe, DOTM Deluxe.

Same Ratchets in robot mode

G1 Encore

For the group pics, I put all the Movie-verse Ratchets in the back, and all other Ratchets in the front. As I compiled all my Ratchets together, it dawned on me that I have exactly one Ratchet from each Bay movie. The DOTM deluxe figure is probably my favorite out of the 3 that I have. I also forgot I have 3 Ratchets from TF Animated. Believe it or not, the Activator figure is the first TF Animated figure that I bought. He came with Sunstorm in a Target exclusive 2-pack. That’s why I even have him, since normally I wouldn’t buy Activator figures. I found that 2-pack for $5 BTW. As for the Deluxe Animated figures, they’re both quite good. I really liked the Universe figure when I first got him. But now that I’m looking at him again years later, that head-looking-down issue is bugging me. Still, he’s not a bad update for the CHUG line. And last but not least, there is the TF Prime Deluxe Ratchet. This Ratchet is really well built and the design is brilliant. He’s probably my favorite Ratchet out of the whole bunch. At this time he’s readily available in mass retail. Grab him if you see one.

The only unopened Ratchet I have is the G1 Encore figure. To this day, I have not played with G1 Ratchet or any of its re-issues. Same goes for G1 Ironhide. So I have no idea how this figure transforms. Hardcore G1-ers like myself know that this figure does not come with a real head. I think maybe one of these days, I will open the Encore figure and finally check out how good (or bad) this iconic G1 figure really is.

Transforming all these Ratchets to take the pics was a good exercise. I kinda forgot how to transform some of the figures. But none of them are too tough to figure out. This was a good refresher for me. I actually think that Universe Ratchet is the most difficult out of this bunch, but other TransFans may disagree.

I also noticed that I didn’t buy doubles of any Ratchets. That’s weird. I kinda wish I bought more Universe Ratchets. The value of this figure has gone up considerably.

Until next time, Transform and Roll Out!

Back in August of 2011, I featured this customized Generations Red Alert done by my buddy Gemini. He brought me the figure and the gun weapon, but he left the engine accessory at home in his possession. Some time later, he painted the engine piece and mailed it to me. I also did not take any pics of Red Alert in alt mode in that post. So Today I’m going to show off the painted engine on Red Alert in his sporty Lamborghini-inspired race car mode.

The silver paint and red and gold highlights on this particular accessory really adds that extra something. If you don’t believe me, take a look below at the painted with the unmodified, side by side.

After the custom paint, anyone can easily see just how dull the engine accessory really is in its original factory default colors. Hasbro should take a cue and learn from these pics. Some little paint touch up here and there can really add a lot.

The pic above shows off how the gun weapon is attached to Red Alert in alt mode. The gun basically becomes the exhaust. This piece is painted silver. Check out how much better this looks over the dull factory colors in this post.

Transform and Roll Out!

As the first combiner team in the TF Universe, the Constructicons are the most recognizable gestalt group among hardcore TransFans. Many combiner teams have come since their appearance, but no other unit has had the legacy that is claimed by this platoon of six Decepticon construction vehicles. They made their first appearance in 1984 in the G1 episode “Heavy Metal War”, one of my favorite G1 eps of all time. The six evil builders sneaked into the Ark for some mischief, not expecting to be overpowered individually by the Dinobots. And just when it looked like the Dinos were gonna turn them to slag, the Constructicons combined to form the fearsome Devastator!

Since the introduction of Classic figures in 2006, hardcore G1-ers such as myself have been crying for an update of the Constructicons that would fit well into the Classic-verse. We all knew that the chance of it really happening was small. Hasbro has not made a true combiner team since god knows when. Their recent approach to gestalts, such as the ROTF Constructicons and PCCs, are nothing short of disappointing. A true combiner team in the G1 spirit does indeed feel like a heavy undertaking, something Hasbro was not prepared to invest in.

Enter TFC Toys, a third party in the same vein as FansProject or iGear. I don’t have any background information on this company. But they were willing to give us what Hasbro will not. Similar to the 2010 FansProject homage to Combaticons, TFC Toys is giving us “Hercules”, a team of six constructions vehicles that can each transform into a robot and combine to form the giant Hercules. Since TFC Toys is not affiliated with Hasbro in any shape or form, they cannot use official Hasbro names to the characters. But it’s obvious that this team of 6 is an homage to the original Constructicons.

This set is not cheap. Each figure is about $100. I’ll let you do the math for how much it cost for the entire set. Clearly this is for hardcore collectors only. Each figure is about Voyager size. I bought the first one back in Oct of 2011, and I completed the set in Feb of this year. Each is packaged in robot mode. A group shot of them individually appears below.

Top row (left to right): Exgraver (Scavenger), Heavy Labor (Long Haul), Neckbreaker (Bonecrusher).
Bottom row (left to right): Madblender (Mixmaster), Dr. Crank (Hook), Structor (Scrapper).

And here is a group shot of them individually in their alt modes.

Each figure in the set is well constructed and feels solid and robust. From a pure aesthetics perspective, these figures draw heavy influences from G1 and the Classic-verse (no weird Movie designs here). Transformation for each figure is also not difficult, and should be obvious to anyone who has played with enough G1 or CHUG toys. I won’t go too much into each figure individually. Just know that I am impressed with each of the 6.

I should point out however that there are 2 constructions issues. The first one has to do with Heavy Labor’s hip joints. TFC was willing to acknowledge the issue and has included a replacement part with Neckbreaker. This post goes into the fix in good detail. The other issue has to do with Neckbreaker itself. It’s a pretty easy fix that I did in about 5 min. Check out this post for the fix. I realize that at $100 a piece, they should be issue-free. However this is TFC Toy’s first attempt, and they were responsible enough to provide fixes, so I don’t see it as a big deal.

Ok, now onto the real reason I bought this set, the giant Hercules. This figure is awesome when combined! Check it out!

Hercules is such a towering giant of a robot that you can’t help but be impressed when the figure is witnessed in person. Transformation of each of the individual components is not difficult, but putting them together to form Hercules does require some work. The joints that connect each component is super tight! I really had to apply force to get the pieces to combine. That’s probably a good thing, considering that each figure is Voyager size, so the tight connection will help Hercules stay combined.

Neckbreaker also comes with a visor that you can put over the eyes of the head of Hercules. This is so you can decide between how you want Hercules to look, either more like the G1 toy (no visor) or more like the G1 show (with visor). The picture above is the only one here where I did not put on the visor. Personally I like how he looks in the G1 cartoons, so the visor is included in all shots below.

One thing that I really like about this set is the fact that extraneous pieces are not required for combining. With the G1 toys, merging into the mighty Devastator required a extra head piece, a extra chest piece, a extra hip piece, 2 extra forearms, and 2 extra fists. Many of these pieces had no where to go when the Constructicons are separated, in either or both alt and robot modes. Combining the toys were impossible without the head and hip piece. The Hercules set has no such issues. Extraneous pieces are not required for combination. Almost everything needed is built into the figures. Take Hercules’ head for example. It is built into Dr. Crank’s back. All connectors are also built into each component. The only pieces that can be argued as add-ons are the fists and chest shield. However, there are places to store these in both individual alt and robot modes, so they are accounted for. Even the guns used by individual figures are accounted for when combined (more on this later). I give TFC Toys high praise for engineering a combination mechanism where add-on pieces are very minimally used.

Below are some size comparisons pics. See for yourself what a massive figure Hercules really is.

For a gestalt, Hercules is quite poseable. There are pivot points at the neck, shoulder, elbows, fists, fingers, hips, and feet. The only key places absent of articulation are the knees. The gestalts made by Hasbro are not articulated at all, so I feel TFC Toys has given us more than enough.

One last thing that I wanted to show is the giant rifle used by Hercules. Take a careful look at the picture below. The rifle is formed by taking the six pistols used by each figure and combining them. Very very cool. I did not know of this until I bought the set. TFC Toys really put a lot of thought into the design of Hercules.

To summarize, I cannot say enough good things about Hercules. I give this set the highest possible recommendation. Yes I know the price is gonna be a turnoff for many, but it is so worth it. As of this writing, BBTS has a sale on third party figures, which may alleviate some of the financial burden of owning something so awesome. If you like combining transforming robots, you owe it to yourself to acquire this in your collection.

With Hercules, TFC Toys has established themselves as a solid 3rd party in the Transformers Universe. I look forward to what they will produce next… Transform and Roll Out!

It is the end of the month once again. From this point forward, at the end of every month, I will make a post about all the Transformers I bought for that month. I started this last month in this post, and I think I will continue the trend. And just like Feb, I bought a bunch of TFs in March.

• DOTM Basic Human Alliance Half-Track, Target, $6.92

• DOTM Deluxe Soundwave, eBay, $34.15 shipped

• TF Prime RID Deluxe Wheeljack, TRU, $14.99

• Masterpiece Optimus Prime (MP-10), Wondercon, $200
• Star Wars Crossover Clone Pilot Arc-170 Starfighter, Wondercon, $10

• TF Prime RID Bumblebee, Walmart, $12.88
• TF Prime RID Ratchet, Target, $12.99

• DOTM Deluxe Barricade, Walmart, $7.27
• DOTM Deluxe Jolt, Walmart, $7.27

• PCC Skyhammer, CVS Pharmacy, $8.49

• TF Prime RID Soundwave, TRU, $14.99

Some random thoughts as I look at what I bought this month:

• I got 11 TFs for the month: 4 DOTMs, 4 TFPs, 1 MP, 1 Star Wars TF, and 1 PCC.
• I opened DOTM Half-Track, DOTM Soundwave, TFP Wheeljack, TFP Bumblebee, TFP Ratchet, and PCC Skyhammer. The rest are unopened.
• Vigilant readers will notice that in Feb I got TFP Deluxe Bumblebee, and mentioned that I returned him back to TRU. I did that so I can get him again this month at a lower price somewhere else.
• It is for this same reason that I haven’t opened TFP Soundwave. I’m hoping to find him again for cheaper later.
• I bought a TF from CVS Pharmacy for the first time. I don’t usually hunt there, but I happened to see PCC Skyhammer which I didn’t see anywhere else. So I snagged it. Price wasn’t too bad either. Most non-discount stores still carry PCC 2-packs at $9.99. I thought CVS was gonna mark this up like everything else, so I was pleasantly surprised when they rung up $8.49 at checkout.
• Speaking of Skyhammer, why is PCC Skyhammer a Decepticon? DOTM Skyhammer is an Autobot. I’ve grown accustomed to seeing a TF character appearing very different from line to line, but switching allegiances? That’s just weird.
• I haven’t had any time to mess with MP-10, and that’s why he’s still unopened. I need to make time for this soon, especially considering he’s by far the most expensive piece here. Very looking forward to some quality time with what many is calling the best G1-style Optimus Prime ever made.
• Other than at the Target where I bought Half-Track, I have not seen him anywhere else. I started seeing him at this Target several months ago, but did not buy him b/c he’s simply a Sandstorm repaint. I only got him now since he’s on clearance. I wonder why he’s so rare in my area? In the pic above you’ll see that his left arm dislodged from the socket, but the figure is fine once it’s re-attached.
• DOTM Soundwave was bought on eBay from a Taiwan seller. This price is not too bad, considering he’s now Asia only.
• TFP Wheeljack and Ratchet are some of the best deluxe figures out there right now. Do not hesitate to grab these two if/when you find them.
• Bewteen this month and last month, the only TF I got at a discount store is Icepick from dd’s Discounts. I’m still very much hunting at discount stores regularly. Guess they just didn’t get anything good lately.

Too many TFs, too little time. Transform and Roll Out!

Today I’m going to feature a character that Hasbro/Takara didn’t take seriously until the last few years: Cliffjumper. For decades, CJ was simply that red repaint of Bumblebee. In the G1 cartoons, CJ and Bee were distinct characters with distinct personalities. But as for the G1 toys, the two were awfully similar. Technically they were not repaints of each other (with different head molds and slightly different body molds), but it was obvious that the two figures were cut from the same cloth. It didn’t help matters that, early in G1 before the TF brand was properly established, Hasbro released red Bumblebees and yellow Cliffjumpers, further blending the identity of the two. As the years went on, the Bumblebee mold was often selected to be repainted as Cliffjumper whenever Hasbro felt like making a quick buck off the same mold.

At around 2009, things began to change. Cliffjumper figures began to see more variation from Bumblebee. If memory serves, the first Cliffjumper with a different head in this modern era is the Alternity figure. Technically Takara sold the figure as Bumblebee, but we all know he’s really Cliffjumper. In Transformers Prime, CJ is a completely different mold from Bumblebee. After all these years, Cliffjumper is finally getting the recognition that he deserves.

Below I proudly present my Cliffjumper collection.

Clockwise from top left: Classics deluxe, TF Prime RID deluxe, Movie deluxe, Alternity, Generations WFC deluxe.

G1 Keychain

Interestingly enough, I still have the packaging to all my Cliffjumper toys. Mostly because I didn’t open them. The only ones I opened are the Alternity and WFC figures (as shown in the pic above). But I keep the box to all my Alternities, and I have two of the WFC figure, one unopened. I plan to open TF Prime RID Cliffjumper and I don’t plan to buy multiples, so this trend of having all CJ’s packaging probably won’t continue.

From Casey Kasem to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson… Transform and Roll Out!

Happy New Year! To kick off 2012 right, I’m going to show off my FansProject Insecticons. All 3 figures were released in 2011, and by now there are so many other reviews out there that go into the awesomeness of this trio. I mentioned buying them back in this post.

For those that don’t know, FansProject is a third party not officially associated with Hasbro. And since Hasbro won’t do Insecticons in the CHUG line for reasons that elude me, FansProject saw fit to give us proper homages to this mischievous Decepticon subgroup. They’re not cheap though. Each figure cost about $50. But they are well worth it. FansProject’s interpretation of these characters appear to be insects that transform into mechanical ninjas. Personally I think that’s an excellent interpretation, since in G1 the Insecticons were small, quick, and causes lots of havoc.

However, there is one glaring weakness with these figures, and it is the dull grey plastic look of their weapons. So once again it’s Gemini to the rescue. He painted the weapons silver and shiny. Check out the before and after pics.

Before:

After:

The silver paint really brings out that extra something in these figures! I really admire FansProject, but why didn’t they paint them silver to begin with? Would silver paint really cost that much more to do? I don’t know, but I’m glad I had mine painted.

Below are more pics to show off all this bling.

Insecticons forever! Transform and Roll Out!