Once again it is the end of the month, where I count up the Transformers that have come into my possession for the duration. In contrast to September, I received all these TFs in the first half of the month. And in direct contrast to October of last year, where I set a record number of TF figures purchased in a single month, this October is quite modest in terms of figures bought.

• Masterpiece Acid Storm, Toys R Us, $74.99

• Generations Thrilling 30 Optimus Prime and Roller, amazon.com, $10.94

• Generations Thrilling 30 Bumblebee and Blazemaster, amazon.com, $10.94

• ToyWorld Aurora, bbts.com, $49.99

• Mastermind Creations Bovis, bbts.com, $89.99

This comes to a total of 7 figs for October. 4 figs from Generations Thrilling 30, 1 Masterpiece fig, and 2 third party products.

MP Acid Storm was a pleasant find (though that same day, he was also available online). I have been hunting at TRU for about a month on a regular basis before I found him early in October. I really like the new Seeker MP molds. Acid Storm is an exact repaint of MP Thundercracker, and I have already mentioned what a awesome figure that is. Acid Storm certainly does not disappoint. I really wish Hasbro would also re-release Starscream and Skywarp in the US in the new MP molds.

The little Generations Thrilling 30 figures were ordered from Amazon. I have never seen these in store. So when I saw them on Amazon for only $1 more than MSRP, I wasted no time buying them. Technically they were not from Amazon, they were from TFSource selling through Amazon. That particular arrangement worked out quite well for me. I don’t live in the same state as TFSource so I don’t have to pay tax, and this is sold through Amazon so it qualifies for free ship with Amazon Prime (which I have). Anyway, the OP fig is just ok. The Bumblebee fig is not half bad. They are fun distractions, and they pose well with Metroplex.

The two third party figs are nothing short of incredible! Aurora by ToyWorld is an homage to Searchlight, a G1 Throttlebot. This figure transforms quite well. He looks nice in both modes, and the construction is solid. ToyWorld does intend to make all 6 Throttlebot homages, and supposedly they will combine! I know G1 Throttlebots never did this, but it’s nice to see ToyWorld go out of their way to make this happen. Now that I’ve seen how cool Aurora is, I plan on getting the rest of them. I got Trace (Chase homage) on pre. Now I need to get Grind Rod (Rollbar).

That leaves Bovis. Fans have been gushing left and right on TF sites and forums about how well Mastermind Creations products are. They are right. Words alone cannot do justice to the quality that MMC have put into this figure. Bovis is a homage to Tantrum, a G1 Predacon. MMC is making the whole team. If the rest of the figs turn out as well as Bovis, then we are really in for a treat. Anyway, I transformed Bovis from robot to bull. He is a really solid piece that any G1 fan needs to own. Bovis is certainly large for a figure that can combine. Predaking will be massive! I love it.

Happy Halloween! Transform and Roll Out!

Behold my fellow TransFans! Feast your optics on my complete collection of G1 Throttlebots!

Back row (left to right): Chase, Wideload, Searchlight
Front row (left to right): Goldbug, Rollbar, Freeway

Haha ok I know these are not the most impressive bunch. But I guess my interest in this often forgettable sextet got rebooted after ToyWorld started making homages to them.

The gimmick of the Throttlebots is that they have the pullback motors that were very popular of toys back in the 80s. In G1, Jump Starters and Battle Chargers had this same gimmick as well. But those sub-groups also transform automatically as part of the release sequence (from alt mode to robot). Throttlebots differ in that they must be transformed manually, but the pullback mechanism can be initiated in either car or robot mode. As Transformers, they pretty much sucked. Though technically not repaints, all six figures in the group transform exactly the same. Like Bumblebee and Cliffjumper from Season 1. Transformation is super simple, even for G1 standards. All you do is raise the figure, flip out the arms, flip back the rear to reveal the head, and push in the motor. They have absolutely no articulation at all, a total fail even for G1.

The first of these that I got was Goldbug, at a Thrifty. I got him because he reminded me of Bumblebee (before I found out he is in fact Bumblebee). Not sure why I decided to get Rollbar and Freeway later. Guess I was bored and had some extra spending money. But yeah, these 3 I had since G1, and I know for a fact they’re the real deal.

Now that ToyWorld is making their homages, I decided to get the rest now in 2013. One seller had Chase and Searchlight, which I bought for $8 shipped on eBay (he took my best offer). Then I won another auction for Wideload at $5 shipped. These 3 are all used, but all in pretty good shape. As far as I can tell, these are all authentic genuine Hasbro products. Being able to complete the set at these prices was well worth it for a G1er such as myself.

I am looking forward to ToyWorld’s homages to this group. I thought it was kind of funny and weird for ToyWorld to update this particular team. But after I saw reviews of Grind Rod (Rollbar) and Aurora (Searchlight), I am quite impressed. They will supposedly combine into a Gestalt as well. Like I mentioned in my last post, I pre-ordered Trace (Chase), who is the 3rd fig in the group. I may need to order the first 2 figs before they’re gone.

Throttlebots… Transform and Roll Out!

The end of the month is upon us once again. The time has come to count up the TFs my friends. What kind of damage did I do in May? Let’s find out…

• TF Prime RID Hot Shot, Target, $12.99

• Alternity Megatron, Craigslist, $45

• PCC Searchlight, CVS Pharmacy, $8.29

• TF Prime RID Bulkhead, Walmart, $19.96
• TF Prime RID Starscream, Target, $19.99

• TF Prime RID Knock Out, Target, $12.89

• TF Prime Zombie Cliffjumper, about $35

This feels like a typical month as far as TF purchases go, not too many and not too few. 5 figs come from Transformers Prime, which is what I would expect at this point in time. 1 PCC and 1 Alternity rounds out the rest. As of this writing, I opened all of these except the 2 Japanese releases: Alternity Megatron and TF Prime Zombie Cliffjumper.

I bought Alternity Megatron off some dude that posted an ad on Craigslist. For this fig, Takara also made a blue one and a black one. But being the G1-er that I am, I had to get the silver, no exceptions. The asking price was $50. I offered $45 and the dude took it. I remember at Wondercon in 2010, a dealer had the same fig for $50. I thought about buying it, but couldn’t make up my mind. This was around lunch time. I said to my friend Gemini that we’ll go to lunch, and if the figure was still there when we return, I’ll take that as a sign and buy it. So we go eat at the nearby Jollibee, and when we came back to the con, Megatron was gone. I was not destined to have Megatron that day. But finding it 2 years later for cheaper is what fate had in stored for me. Just goes to show, sometimes when things don’t work out, it just isn’t meant to be and something better will come along later. Who says life lessons can’t apply to TFs? 🙂

As for the Japanese TF Prime Zombie CJ, Gemini ordered this from a online retailer. We both had to have this since we both missed out on a First Edition CJ. Zombie CJ is the same mold, just all zombified. Most fans seem to suggest that the FE CJ mold is so much better than the RID mold, so I look forward to opening this soon. Another CJ figure for my Cliffjumper collection.

I opened the remaining figures. RID Hot Shot is a repaint of RID Bumblebee with a different head. I like his colors, and I think his goggle gimmick is pretty cool. RID Knock Out is also a very good figure. I like both his car mode and robot mode, and his transformation is quite refreshing. I think Knock Out is actually one of the harder figures from the TF Prime RID deluxe line, but I only transformed him once so far so this assessment may change.

As for the TF Prime RID Voyager figures, I like Bulkhead. I like his alt mode, no issues here. As for his robot mode, overall it’s not too bad. Some fans complain about his wings on the back, but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. The only thing that really bug me about Bulkhead is his weapon. It has a cool MechTech feature where pulling the switch back moves the spinning ball forward, but the weapon just looks awful when placed on either the vehicle or the robot. Hasbro really believes that we fans love MechTech. Personally, I could do without MechTech if it means getting a better figure (which is basically what First Editions are). Speaking of First Editions, I bought a FE Bulkhead on eBay and it should arrive next month. As for Voyager Starscream, I can’t really recommend this figure. This is hard to explain in words, but something about this figure just seems off. Maybe it’s because the FE was so impressive. A lot of fans complain about the scale too. If you can only get one, definitely get the FE.

That only leaves the 1 PCC figure, Searchlight. I got this near the middle of the month around Mothers Day. I only got Searchlight because there wasn’t any other new TFs to buy at the time. Plus I had a bunch of coins that I needed to take to Coinstar. With that voucher, I had more than enough for Searchlight. I’m really glad I decided to buy him. He’s one of the better PCCs in my opinion. Also, I don’t have that many helicopter TFs, so I’m happy to add more. I only have one gripe where in robot mode his shoulders don’t really lock into place, but that’s a small complaint.

That about covers it. TFs in the month of May. Will I ever have a month where I don’t buy any TFs? Not something I wanna think about.

Transform and Roll Out!