A very modest number of TFs were acquired in September of 2017. And none of them were Decepticons. Autobots, roll!

• Titans Return Hot Rod, amazon.com, $9.99

• The Last Knight Drift, Walmart, $15.83

• The Last Knight Bumblebee, Walmart, $15.83

Hot Rod

TR Hot Rod was already first acquired back in Dec of 2016. So why did I buy this a second time? In the post for Dec 2016, I mentioned that I broke off the head connection mechanism while removing Firedrive from Hot Rod on the very first transformation attempt. Read that post for all the details and for my thoughts on the figure. But suffice it to say I don’t like having broken Transformers in my collection. And at less than $10, I felt justified in getting another Hot Rod. He is the star of the G1 Movie, after all. I took care not to break the connection mechanism this time.

The packaging arrived in less than perfect condition, as you can clearly see in the above pic. I would definitely file a complaint with Amazon if my intention was to keep this figure mint on the card. But I planned to open this, and at less than $10, it’s not really worth my time.

Drift

The Last Knight figures continue with Drift. AoE gave us a very good Deluxe class Drift, one of my few favorites from that line. So how does TLK Drift fare? Overall, he’s not bad. In robot mode, he’s got decent articulation and his proportions are well balanced. The iconic twin swords are on full display here. This Drift is colored mostly red in robot mode, and that’s quite a departure from the blue AoE Drift.

TLK Drift in an action pose.

Close up shot. Pretty good face sculpt. Drift has got the full samurai motif going on, from the samurai face plate to the samurai shoulder pads. Notice the Mercedes logo on the center of the chest. Drift is luxury class samurai… no ghetto swordsman here.

Backview of TLK Drift. Notice he has twin shorter swords, stored on his back over the shoulders. So this guy comes with a total of 4 blades. Very, very cool.

In TLK, Drift transforms into a Mercedes, while in AoE he was a Bugatti. Transformation to car mode is completely different from AoE. In AoE, the front of the vehicle transforms into the chest, while in TLK it transforms into the feet. I won’t describe the rest of it too much since the transformation is not that complicated and not terribly original.

In alt mode, he’s mostly black, with just a touch of red on the very bottom of the vehicle. He looks good as a Mercedes, though I still prefer it if he was a Bugatti. Below is a shot of TLK and AoE Drift side by side.

All in all, I like this Drift. I think AoE Drift is still better, but TLK Drift has got some nice features going on too. Recommended.

Bumblebee

We really don’t need any more Movie-verse Bumblebees. But I suppose the execs at Hasbro just love pumping out more of the one Transformer character that even the most casual of fans can identify by name. This is the second Deluxe class Bumblebee figure in the TLK line. I passed on buying the first one, which was just a repaint of AoE Deluxe class Bumblebee. This second one is a brand new mold.

Word has it that this new TLK Bumblebee is a mass retail toy representation of Masterpiece Movie Bumblebee (MPM-3). I can neither confirm nor deny that assertion, since I don’t have MPM-3. And I’m not gonna pay about $100 to find out. From what I know, the overall transformation schema is the same. But TLK Bee is obviously smaller. I will also guess that the materials used are cheaper and the mechanical complexity is toned down.

In robot mode, TLK Bee looks good. I like the details on the figure. Compared to previous deluxe Movie Bumblebees, TLK Bee appears more show accurate.

TLK Bee is capable of some fairly dynamic poses since he’s pretty well articulated. He comes with a gun-arm accessory, which he uses in the shot below. This can be used on either arm. However, the arm does need to be removed to attach the gun-arm.

I should point out that the construction of TLK Bumblebee is not the best. The feet pieces are quite loose. The hip joints are a bit loose too. The result is that it’s difficult to stand the figure. While TLK Bee is capable of a wide range of poses, he cannot hold it because of the weak construction.

Close up shot of TLK Bee. The face sculpt is quite good, and I like that the eyes are painted blue. I believe the Autobot logo on the forehead is painted on. In this pic below it looks a bit sloppy since it’s totally magnified, but under the naked eye it actually looks quite good. I commend Hasbro for including this bit of detail.

Transformation to alt mode is a completely new design. Like I said, I don’t know how much of this is borrowed from MPM-3, but for a deluxe class mass retail toy it’s definitely cool. From a engineering perspective, I rate this deluxe Bumblebee second among all the deluxe Movie Bumblebees. And if you’re wondering who gets first honors, it’s Battle Blade Bumblebee from Revenge of the Fallen, Hunt for the Decepticons subline.

In alt mode, TLK Bee has black coloring painted over the hood and roof. All the Movie deluxe Bumblebees has been pretty good in alt mode, and TLK Bee is no exception.

The gun-arm accessory can be attached in alt mode, but it looks quite silly.

Underside of the vehicle.

All in all, this Bumblebee is good, but just short of great. I would give it much higher recommendation if the build and construction had no issues. But as is, I would still get it. It’s without a doubt one of the better deluxe Bumblebees made. I don’t think you would be missing out on too much if you passed on this, especially if you already have too many Movie Bumblebees taking up precious shelf space. But I would definitely get this Bee over many others that have been made in the Movie-verse.

Here is a pic of Drift, Bumblebee, and Hound, all from The Last Knight.

Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!

Only 3 TFs were acquired in March of 2016.

• Combiners Wars Shockwave, Walmart, $9.97

• Combiners Wars Scattershot, Walmart, $24.97

• Masterpiece Hot Rodimus, amiami.com, ¥6000 (about $54.09)

Hasbro has been doing a lot of figures of Shockwave in recent years. Some notables ones that come to mind include Fall of Cybertron Shockwave, Transformers Prime Shockwave, and Dark of the Moon Shockwave. Fans love Shockwave, and I’m glad to see Combiner Wars get its own version of the character. This legend size figure ain’t too shabby. Vigilant readers will see that he appears in a pic in my last post, with all the Combaticons in their alt modes, on top of Onslaught. He was made to scale with Combaticons in this size. My memory is fuzzy as I write this now, but I think in the instructional manual for Onslaught, it tells you how to use Shockwave with Onslaught. I’m betting this is all a homage to the G1 Episode “The Revenge of Bruticus”. In the ep, Bruticus picks up Shockwave in alt mode and uses him as a weapon, and these CW figs can perfectly reenact that scene. CW Shockwave is fun to play with. He’s little, but his transformation is more substantial than you would think for a figure of this size. Both robot mode and alt mode looks good. I highly recommend this fig, even if you don’t have the CW Combaticons. He’s well enough as a stand alone fig, and if you do have Bruticus then he adds that extra bit of G1 flavor to your collection.

CW Scattershot is a rework of Silverbolt and Cyclonus. I’m not gonna go into this fig too much since he is already the third fig of this mold. Scattershot does look different enough to mildly justify a purchase. In his super high tech jet mode, he looks nothing like Silverbolt or Cyclonus. In robot mode, he gets a new head mold, but his body stylings resemble Silverbolt a bit too much. Also, as the body of Computron, the head mold is disappointingly identical to Superion’s. Scattershot’s paint job could be better too. Some bits and parts look too obviously plastic-ish. To this day I still have not used him in combined form, but both Silverbolt and Cyclonus work really well as the center of the gestalt so I have no doubt that Scattershot does too. If you have no love for the Technobots, then I say go ahead and pass on this fig. But if you dig this Autobot combiner team like I do, you may be better served by getting the CW Technobot boxed set. That way you get all whole team in one convenient purchase. There is both a US and Japanese version of the set (in Japan this line is called Unite Warriors). Based on looking only at the pictures, they each have their pros and cons. UW does appear to be better in terms of having new molds, but CW comes with redesigned hands and feet attachments for Computron. Seribertron has an excellent article comparing the two. My feeling is if you want to get the ultimate Technobot team, you’re gonna have to suck it up and buy both sets. I may get one set (or both) eventually, but for now I am kinda sick of all the CW repaints that Hasbro has thrown our way.

Now onto the Masterpiece of the month: Hot Rodimus! Yes friends, he’s called Hot Rodimus. Not Hot Rod, not simply Rodimus, but Hot Rodimus. I don’t know if that’s his Japanese name, or if Hasbro/Takara simply wanted the best part of both names. Whatever the case, this figure here is the definitive version of a Masterpiece Hot Rod that hardcore G1 fans have been waiting for. Note that I said Hot Rod, not Rodimus Prime. There was already a MP Rodimus figure (MP-09) produced 5 years ago, which I have wrote up two separate reviews (one for the alt mode and one for the robot mode). However, that figure is not without its flaws, as I have stated in the reviews. He looks great, but he’s such a pain in the glutenous maximus to transform that he’s simply not fun. And scale wise, that fig works well as Rodimus Prime in the current MP scale, but not has Hot Rod (Hasbro/Takara has not figured out how to mass shift just yet). MP-09 was probably a bit too ambitious in trying to work as both Hot Rod and Rodimus Prime, in each of the alt modes and robot modes.

This time, Takara is simply giving us their ultimate G1 Movie interpretation of the character as Hot Rod only, designated MP-28. And this figure kicks ass! He comes packaged in alt mode, and that mode is a sweet representation of Hot Rod in his sexy futuristic racer mode. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pics, so you’re gonna have to take my word for it, or just online search for some pics. I do have one pic of robot mode below. Check him out!

If that’s not Hot Rod, then I don’t know what is. He comes with the two guns that was also included in the G1 toy, but we have never seen him use in the G1 Movie. He seems to prefer the side blasters on his forearms (which strangely enough he has never used after the G1 Movie). Transformation wise, this figure has got it where it counts. This is a completely different transformation from MP-09. MP Hot Rodimus is complex enough to qualify as MP, but simple enough to be fun. That’s just the right balance in my opinion. Construction wise he is also perfect. No joints that are too loose or overly tight. He can hold his poses well. This Hot Rod scales nicely with other figs in the MP lineup. MP-28 also comes with some fun extra accessories. He’s got his iconic saw blade, but he also has a fishing pole (the one that we saw him use in the early scenes of the G1 Movie).

I know I’m going through all this kind of quick, but that’s because I plan on doing a in-depth review of this figure. Look for it soon. For now, just know that you have to buy this. Every G1 fan needs this figure in their collection.

More TFs to come soon. Transform and Roll Out.