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Posts Tagged ‘Seaspray’

Masterpiece Optimus Prime and Autobots, Team 5

August 27th, 2020 Comments off

MP Optimus is back with another team of trusted Autobots to lay waste to some undisciplined Decepticons up to no good.

This is Team 5. Here were the previous teams: Team 1, Team 2, Team 3, Team 4.

With the exception of MP-10 Optimus, all figures here are 3rd party and purchased within the last year. This really shows how far 3rd parties have come.

Fans Toys got 2 representatives here in Hunk and Sheridan. Hunk is a great figure, possibly the best MP Brawn on the market today. Both modes look toon accurate. Transformation to car mode can be a tad frustrating in the final steps. I have yet to transform Sheridan, but he definitely looks good in robot mode.

X-Transbots have undoubtedly improved their status as a 3rd party company of transforming figures in recent years. I’m generally very impressed with their offerings, and I got 3 here to prove it. I chose Neptune after looking through many choices in 3P MPs of Seaspray. He is in my opinion the best MP Seaspray on the market, in terms of cartoon accuracy and figure engineering. (Sidebar: the upcoming Spindrift 2.0 by Fans Toys may change that, but only time will tell.) Klaatu was also chosen among many 3P MP offerings of Cosmos. He looks the most toon accurate in both modes. I went with the metallic version, and I’m oh so glad I did. The picture here does not do this paint job justice, it has to be seen to be fully appreciated. Klaatu is a bit chunky in bot form, and he does present a bit of scale issues with other Mini-bots.

X-Transbots Aegis stars as MP Trailbreaker. In G1, Trailbreaker was my very first Carbot, so I’m extremely partial to Trailbreaker. He was the last Carbot to get any love in CHUG, something that I wasn’t entirely happy about. And now he is the last Carbot to appear in my Autobot MP Teams. I feel kinda bad about that. But better late than never, and in this case I could almost say I saved the best for last. XT Aegis is better than all previous attempts at an MP Trailbreaker. I won’t go into what those are, but if you are in the market for a MP Trailbreaker, you need only consider Aegis.

Transform and Roll Out.
 

Categories: Pics

Transformers Purchased in July 2017

June 26th, 2018 Comments off

Only 2 Transformers were purchased in July of 2017. This is the lowest purchase count in a month since March of 2014. But what was lacking in quantity, this month makes up for in quality.

  • Titans Return Seaspray, Walmart, $9.84

  • Fans Toys Stomp, thechosenprime.com, $199.99

I already reviewed Titans Return Seaspray. He’s a terrific little figure that all G1-ers need in their collection.

Now let us focus on Stomp, a 3rd party Masterpiece interpretation of Dinobot Sludge. Stomp is produced by Fans Toys, and Fans Toys is probably the highest regarded 3rd party toy company in the TF fandom. And I’ll get straight to it: Stomp is an awesome figure! FT hit this one out of the park and delivered a MP Sludge figure that exceeded all expectations.

Stomp is the 4th Dinobot figure I have from FT. FT calls this line of figures the Iron Dibots. The first one I got was Scoria, their tribute to Slag. Scoria was pretty good for it’s time as the first MP style Dinobot by a 3rd party. But it is kind of lacking by today’s standards. And from a build and engineering perspective, Scoria was not without its issues. Many have complained about loose shoulder joints. Mine is ok, but I don’t like how Scoria’s hip joints droop down when the figure is picked up, because the weak hip joints cannot support the heavy die-cast legs. Next I got Sever (Snarl) and Soar (Swoop). These 2 were much better. I hold both of these in very high regard, close to TF perfection. Now I’m happy to add Stomp to the mix.

Like I mentioned already, Stomp is awesome, like his brothers Sever and Soar. Stomp deserves a review of its own, but I will mention here some quick points on why you need Stomp in your collection.

  • Look great in both modes! Robot mode is well proportioned, and dino mode is large and intimidating.
  • G1 accurate transformation. Sometimes 3P takes too many liberties in the way a figure transforms. I give that points for creativity, but some may consider it straying too far from the original source. Stomp’s transformation scheme is identical to that of G1 Sludge. Obviously it’s implemented with modern day engineering, which takes me to my next point…
  • Solid build and engineering. It seems that FT took all the lessons learned from the previous FT Iron Dibots, and improved on their design choices in how Stomp is constructed. The drooping hips/legs issue I mentioned for Scoria, none of that applies to Stomp. There is a spring tabbing mechanism that locks Stomp’s hips into place in robot mode. So despite the heavy legs, no drooping occurs. Bravo Fans Toys!
  • Quality materials used for the figure.
  • Comes with working LED blaster and sword.
  • Premium paint job.

There are other pros about the figure, but I’ll stop here. Check out some pics for yourself.

Stomp comes packaged in robot mode.

With his pal Soar.

Stomp in his awesome dino mode.

With his creator Wheeljack.

With ToyWorld Muddy.

Now I am debating if I should buy Fans Toys Grinder (Grimlock) to complete the set of FT Iron Dibots. I have MP Grimlock, but he’s too small when scaled next to the Iron Dibots. I can’t have have the leader of the Dinobots be the smallest one!

And I’m also considering getting the next evolution in Scoria, which is Perfect Fusion Cesium. As far as I know, Perfect Fusion is a spin-off sister company of Fans Toys. PF took everything wrong with Scoria, went back to the drawing board, and produced another version of MP-style Slag called Cesium that fixes everything wrong with Scoria. I am tempted to buy Cesium. However, in robot mode he seems to big. In fact, he is even a smidge taller than Grinder. For that reason I am hesitant. At $139.99, Cesium is a bit cheaper than the Iron Dibots (usual MSRP is $199.99). I may get him. Or not.

Transform and Roll Out.
 

Categories: On The Hunt, Pics

Titans Return Seaspray Quick Review

June 20th, 2018 Comments off

All G1 TransFans need no introduction to Seaspray. He is perhaps the only Transformer ever to have a hovercraft alt mode (not counting characters that are repaints of Seaspray in any one of his toy molds). G1-ers also immediately recognize his unique gurgle speech.

Titans Return finally gave us a modern update of this famous Minibot.

Seaspray in modern form and holding true to his G1 aesthetics.

Back of Seaspray is pretty clean. No nasty kibble here.

Helmet is modeled after the G1 animation model, while the eyes are more G1 toy accurate. Probably a good thing, the Seaspray cartoon eyes on a toy might bug me.

Articulation is limited, but decent for a $10 figure.

Holding a random weapon that belongs to another Transformer. Big prizes to anyone out there hardcore enough to identify the weapon.

With G1 Seaspray.

Notice in the above 3 shots, Seaspray has a module attached to his chest. The module can be seen packaged in the upper right corner (first pic). I guess you can detach this for a more accurate animation look, or attach it to look more like the G1 toy. I’m not sure if there exist other reasons for this extra attachment.

Transformation from robot to hovercraft follows almost the exact same scheme as G1, so I won’t describe it too much. The only real difference is that, for the alt mode, the arms point backwards in TR, as opposed to forwards like in G1.

Rear view of the hovercraft. Those are working spinning propellers.

A Titan Master can ride inside in alt mode.

With G1 Seaspray.

Seaspray with his Season 2 Minibot cohorts in modern form.

Go Seaspray! Transform and Roll Out.
 

Categories: Pics, Toy Reviews

Nice Boat… Top 10 TF Boats

February 3rd, 2010 2 comments

This morning I was shooting the bull with my coworkers around the water cooler, and we got on the subject of talking about boats. One guy here in the office is big on boating and we will probably all go out to his place and chill on the river this upcoming summer.

But this gets me thinking… what are some Transformer boats? I couldn’t think of that many. The boat is a very scarcely used alt mode in the TF universe. I’m not sure why that is. I’m no toy designer, but a boat TF does not seem like it would be difficult to design. There are boatloads of cars and jets already (pun intended). Sea vehicles, such as battleships, tankers, and cruise liners, would be very refreshing additions.

As it currently stands, there are only a handful of boats in the TF universe, and I will do them justice by listing them in a top 10 list. I’m being very generous with the definition here. For this listing, a boat is any vehicle that primarily traverses on or under water. And even with such a broad definition, coming up with 10 TFs was difficult. So this is basically a list of 10 TFs that transform into watercrafts.

10. Submarauder
Series: G1
Allegiance: Decepticon
Sub-Group: Pretender
Function: Undersea Warfare
Boat Alt Mode: Cybertronian Submarine

 
 
 
I tried to leave Pretenders off this list, I really did. I’ve ranted about how lame they are. But I ran out of boats and I needed one more to round out a top 10. Believe it or not, there are quite a few sea vehicles in the Pretender line. Why did I choose Submarauder? Because he has a submarine alt mode, which is unique to this list.
 

9. Quickswitch
Series: G1
Allegiance: Autobot
Sub-Group: Six Changer
Function: Assault Warrior
Boat Alt Mode: Cybertronian Hovercraft

 
The first Autobot Six Changer, Quickswitch makes this list because he does have a hovercraft mode. I never really liked this guy’s toy, probably because he’s got a lame looking robot mode and a questionable color scheme.
 

8. Seawatch
Series: G1
Allegiance: Autobot
Sub-Group: Micromaster Rescue Patrol
Function: Search and Rescue
Boat Alt Mode: Hydrofoil

 
As part of the Micromaster Rescue Patrol, Seawatch is dedicated to protecting the sea environments and stopping oceanic misdeeds, such as polluting and poaching. A little known fact is that Seawatch loves to watch “Baywatch”. He has petitioned numerous times to change his name to Baywatch but Optimus would not have it.
 

7. Manta Ray
Series: G2
Allegiance: Autobot
Sub-Group: Rotor Force
Function: ???
Boat Alt Mode: Racing Boat

The only G2 character on this list, Manta Ray is one of the first original G2 characters (as in not a G1 repaint). Hasbro picked a really good alt mode here and was daring enough to try something different from G1. Rotor Force figures have a gimmick where the rotor can be launched as a spinning disc, the perfect toy for another boring office meeting.
 

6. Thunderblast
Series: Cybertron
Allegiance: Decepticon
Sub-Group: None
Function: Aggressive Oceanic Soldier
Boat Alt Mode: Cybertronian Attack Boat

 
 
As one of the very few female Decepticons, Thunderblast knows how to manipulate weak-minded TFs of the male variety. She uses her sexy fembot mode and her sexy boat mode to get what she wants. Horny Decepticons are usually too willing to oblige.
 

5. Dreadwing
Series: Energon
Allegiance: Decepticon
Sub-Group: None
Function: ???
Boat Alt Mode: Cybertronian Gun Boat

 
Dreadwing’s toy looks extremely cool. This is the kind of boat figures I envision Hasbro releasing in the Classics line. I might hunt down this figure if I can fine one at a reasonable price.
 

4. Mirage
Series: Energon
Allegiance: Decepticon
Sub-Group: None
Function: ???
Boat Alt Mode: Cybertronian Gun Boat

 
Not to be confused with G1 Mirage, this figure and Dreadwing (see above) are redecos of each other. However, I think Mirage came first and so he’s ranked higher on this list. Mirage also seems to have a fair amount of screen time in the Energon Animated series and I think his original name was Tidal Wave. I can’t find Function listings for Energon characters. I guess they do whatever they please.
 

3. Depthcharge
Series: ROTF
Allegiance: Autobot
Sub-Group: None
Function: ???
Boat Alt Mode: Stealth Boat

 
Depthcharge is a scout class figure from the ROTF line. ROTF figures generally do not have their functions listed in their bio on the back of the box (I’m beginning to think Functions are a G1-only thing). I’m not sure if Depthcharge has an appearance in the film. Actually, I’m not sure he as an appearance anywhere. This Depthcharge (spelled as one word) is not to be confused with Depth Charge of Beast Wars lore. Similarly, HsunamiPrime is not to be confused with Hsunami Prime.
 

2. Broadside
Series: G1
Allegiance: Autobot
Sub-Group: Triple Changer
Function: Air/Sea Assault
Boat Alt Mode: Aircraft Carrier

 
Broadside is perhaps the only aircraft carrier in TF history. As one of the few Autobot Triple Changers, Broadside also has a jet mode. In G1 Animated and some Dreamweave renditions, he is depicted as being very large, which makes sense. I think an aircraft carrier would better suit the Decepticons since they have an air force worthy of it. I would love to see Broadside remade in the Classics line as an Ultra Class Triple Changer. Hasbro will probably never do it, because they are allergic to good ideas.
 

1. Seaspray
Series: G1
Allegiance: Autobot
Sub-Group: None
Function: Naval Defense
Boat Alt Mode: Hovercraft

 
Arguably the most famous TF on this list, Seaspray made his debut in Season 2 of the G1 Animated series and is the first bot in TF history to have a water-based alt mode. His most notable appearance was in the episode “Sea Change”, and his peculiar way of speaking has won the hearts of women everywhere (ok maybe not, but Alana digs it). It appears he has a toy in the Classics line planned for later this year. I’ve ranted before about how they better not forget Seaspray in the Classics line and it looks like my prayers are answered. 🙂
 

Nice Boats! Transform and Roll Out!

Categories: Top Ten

Top 10 Transformers That Talk Funny

November 11th, 2009 2 comments

There are a whole lotta Transformers in the TF universe. To give them more personality and character, the creators of the show gave many of them interesting speech patterns. Some of them are very charming, while others are just plain annoying.

But you gotta figure that for a race with unlimited technological advances at their disposal, such as transformation, mass-shift, intergalactic travel, and space folding just to name a few, fixing speech patterns for the vocally unorthodox should be a simple matter. My guess is Transformers don’t value speech all that highly, or maybe some of them are simply too proud of their individuality.

Below I present my top 10 Transformers that could use a lesson in speech etiquette. I would love to hear any of these guys make a wedding toast.

10. Wheelie

Wheelie talks in a funny way.
Wheelie will annoy you every day.
Wheelie likes humping Megan Fox’s leg.
Wheelie rhymes ’cause Wheelie’s gay.
9. Wreck-Gar

Wreck-Gar and the Junkions learned how to talk by watching Earth’s TV. I guess it’s true that TV does turn brain to mush. Bah-weep-Graaaaagnah wheep ni ni bong?
8. Blurr

Blur talks so fast and so much to hear what he is saying is abolutely positively definitely impossible and you try and try and try but he keeps talking and he talks non-stop and you try some more and you don’t give up until you get him but it’s just impossible impossible impossible.
7. Waspinator

Poor Waspinator. The only TF to come from Beast Wars on this list, Waspinator talks in a high-pitch voice, always refers to himself in the third person, and has silly aliases for everyone. He has a tendency to get himself blown up every episode, only to come back in the next episode (if not in the same episode) to get his big stripey butt kicked some more.
6. Seaspray

Someone fix Seaspray’s vocal generators stat. This guy sounds like he is constantly under water and his speech is filled with bubble or gurgling sounds. Sometimes I wonder how other Autobots understand him. However a mermaid did fall in love with him so I guess chicks dig it.
5. Warpath

Warpath is one over-caffeinated Autobot. He ends every sentence with a “wham”, “bam”, “zoom”, or “yeehaw”. Dude, chill.
4. Insecticons

The Insecticons must be around if you hear speech echoes. It sounds pretty cool at first, but after while they just start to bug (pun intended).
3. Omega Supreme

Words few. Talk unnecessary. Resolve unyielding. Firepower overwhelming. Personality boring.
2. Soundwave

The king of monotone speaking usually has little to say, but when he does, Deceptioncs usually listen. I like the way Soundwave talks, I can’t explain why. But it is ironic that the Decepticon communications officer, with an audio device as his alt mode no less, cannot speak in less robotic ways.
1. Grimlock

Me Grimlock no bozo. Me grimlock love Kup’s war stories. Me Grimlock no like you. Me Grimlock love saying me Grimlock. Me Grimlock number one on this stupid list. Me Grimlock King.

Me Grimlock say… Transform and Roll Out!

Categories: Top Ten