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Transformers Purchased in October 2018

July 31st, 2020 Comments off

2018 continues with more TF goodies. Surprisingly, nothing from Power of the Primes (which was the current CHUG line at the time) and nothing from trusted 3Ps. Everything this month is Studio Series, G1 reissues, or 4P products.

  • Studio Series Shadow Raider, amazon.com, $19.99

  • Studio Series Bumblebee, amazon.com, $19.99

  • Studio Series Ironhide, amazon.com, $29.99

  • G1 Hot Rod, Walmart, $29.84

  • NBK Drump Truck, eBay seller, $12.74

  • NBK Mixer, eBay seller, $12.74

  • Kubianbao MP10-V Tactical Container, eBay, $34.76

Shadow Raider

Shadow Raider is a repaint of Studio Series 11 Lockdown. Overall, I like Shadow Raider better. I dig the orange colors. And I like his head mold. It’s as if Lockdown is wearing that green night vision helmet that we see him sport in Age of Extinction. I also like that Shadow Raider comes with an awesome looking gun, as opposed to that claw or hook thing that Lockdown has. If you already have SS Lockdown, then you may not want to buy essentially the same figure again. But if you don’t, then I recommend SS Shadow Raider over SS Lockdown, for the reasons I listed.

And now that I think on it, this orange Lamborghini reminds me of Revenge of the Fallen Oil Pan. The only pic I have of Oil Pan on this blog is this Halloween 2012 Pic (scroll to the most bottom pic, Oil Pan is the orange Lamborghini). I probably still have Oil Pan somewhere. Shadow Raider was featured in a Halloween post here.

Bumblebee

And here we have yet another movie Bumblebee. I swear, I’m so sick of writing about movie Bumblebees. Hasbro churned these out over and over and really forced this character down our throats. But this Studio Series Bumblebee transforms into a VW Bug, so I felt obligated to get one.

G1 purists will get this figure for the VW alt mode, but that’s about all this figure as going for it. Mechanically, this feels like all movie Bumblebees before it. The figure offers nothing new as far as transformation scheme. Take any deluxe movie Bumblebee made in the last 5 years, and imagine that it transforms into a VW Bug and not a Camaro. That’s how this figure feels.

Construction wise, this figure is also not the best. The joints are tolerable, but a bit too loose for my liking. Going to alt mode, SS 18 Bumblebee feels very much like a panel former. And the panels don’t come together that easily, because of the sub-par construction. Trying to combine panels when the build is too loose is not a fun exercise. Everything does come together in the end, but getting there is not pleasant.

Hasbro does sometimes improve their figures, then release the improved mold as a new figure. Case in point, SS 01 Bumblebee was later improved and released as SS 27 Clunker Bumblebee. I don’t have SS 27, but supposedly it fixed some stability problems. Will SS 18 also get an improvement sometime in the future? Only time will tell. In the mean time, get SS 18 Bumblebee if you must have a movie representation of everyone’s favorite hero as the VW Bug. Just don’t expect any originality here. You’ve seen this before.

Ironhide

Studio Series 14 Ironhide is a figure that I still have not opened to this day. I’m not sure why that is. I had every intention of opening this, but life gets in the way, other stuff happens. And before you know it, nearly 2 years go by and it’s still sitting in a box in the closet, unopened and collecting dust.

And I doubt I will open it now. A quick search on Amazon tells me that a new copy of SS 14 Ironhide goes for nearly $150! Yikes! Why is this figure is so valuable? Did they not make that many? Looking through the Amazon reviews, SS 14 appears to be a terrific figure. Some even prefer this over the MPM version.

I am really tempted to open SS 14 to check it out for myself. But on the other hand I don’t want to intentionally destroy $150 of value. What am I gonna do? Woe is me.

Hot Rod

This G1 Hot Rod reissue is a Walmart Exclusive. In G1, I had the Targetmaster version, so this is a figure I know well. Hot Rod is definitely one of the better figures from G1 Season 3. Of course, he is the star of the G1 Movie, so it makes sense for Hasbro to construct a figure worthy of our hero.

I normally don’t purchase G1 reissues from Walmart that they have released in the last several years. I feel weird saying that, since I re-started my TF collecting 16 years ago with G1 reissues. Looking at my TF List, I certainly have bought a lot of G1 reissues over the years. This means I have most of the figures being released now. And these new reissues are kind of pricey, for what they are. Perhaps that’s why I don’t feel the love for G1 reissues anymore.

But with all that being said, I bought this reissue of Hot Rod. I did that for 4 reasons: 1) I had the Targetmaster version, not the Season 3 version, which is what this is, 2) I don’t have Hot Rod as a reissue, 3) this is a good toy for G1 standards, and 4) he is the star of the G1 Movie.

My only regret is that I bought him way too soon. I got him at regular MSRP of close to $30. Walmart apparently had way too many of these, and within a month started dropping prices at my local store. At first they dropped to $25. At that price they still sat on the shelves. Then they were slashed to $15. Even at this price, they weren’t exactly moving. My local store even put them in the clearance section. I thought they would go down to $10, and at that price I’ll buy another one. But that never happened. It was pushing up against the holiday season, and at $15 many parents probably jumped on this. Either that, or some scalper came in and bought them all. I should have got another one when it was $15. If I did, I would open up one of them, and compare to my G1 Targetmaster fig. Oh well.

Dump Truck, Mixer

Here we have 2 more NBK Constructicons. After buying the first 4, I had to get these last 2 to complete this famous sextet in my collection. Dump Truck and Mixer is obviously Long Haul and Mixmaster, respectively. I love how NBK is just using their alt mode as their names. Actually, these may be the names that Generation Toy is using for the genuine article, and NBK is too lazy to come up with their own.

I like Dump Truck. I like the look of both of his molds. Transformation is not hard, but feels complex enough for a figure of his size. Speaking of size, all the NBK Constructicons are about voyager size. Many other modern Constructicon teams absolutely butcher Long Haul. Some of them make him way too big or too bulky, being out of scale of with the other team members (I’m looking at you). Some of them have production problems, being that Long Haul fails to be stable enough to be Devastator’s center. NBK Dump Truck shares none of these faults. Alt mode looks good, robot mode is just a tad bulky (as he should be, from the design), and overall he’s stable enough to provide adequate center of gravity for the gestalt. There are some panels that are difficult to tab together when transforming back to alt mode. It’s a slight distraction and does reduce my overall satisfaction with the piece. But, on a whole, Dump Truck is still a recommended 4th party figure.

Mixer is my final addition to this team. Unfortunately, much like Crane, my feelings for this figure is not as positive. Mixer is another piece where shoddy construction ruins a figure. Going from alt to robot, as soon as you un-peg the arms, the giant mixer barrel falls out. I don’t think this is intended, as the instructions never show it removed for any purpose. Alt mode looks pretty good. Robot mode could be better. I don’t like the large side panels on the arms, near the shoulders. Having the mixer barrel stay on in robot mode is not easy (again, don’t think it’s supposed to come off). In their defense, I don’t think any of the modern Constructicon teams does Mixmaster that well. None of them have figured out what to properly do with the mixer barrel in robot mode. It’s possible that the genuine article from Generation Toys does have the barrel stay on. The NBK figure is a floppy, frustrating mess.

With all 6 NBK Constructicons complete, they can combine and form Devastator. That deserves a review of its own, but I’ll just say quickly here that the combined form is impressive. Many will undoubtedly compare this to ToyWorld Constructor. I don’t think it’s fair to say here which is better. A lot of it will depend on what you value as a TransFan. But I will review NBK Devastator. A discussion on comparisons will be offered in that review.

MP10-V Tactical Container

In March of 2018, I acquired KBBMP10-V by Kubianbao. Yes, we all know what this is, a KO voyager size figure of perhaps the most famous MP to date. And Yes, KBBMP10-V is the name of this figure. Any true TransFans should be able to easily decipher it. It’s original, humorous, and lazy. I can’t get enough of 4th party shenanigans.

MP10-V Tactical Container is the trailer to that figure. And I’ll get straight to it: this is good! KBBMP10-V screamed high production values, and its trailer is no different. KBB is 4th party. When 4th companies can produce products that are superior in quality to the originals, it’s high time HasTak take a look in the mirror and do some serious soul searching.

Everyone already knows what modern Optimus trailers needs to feature today. So I’ll just quickly point out the pros and features of MP10-V Tactical Container in bullet points:

  • Beautiful paint job
  • Rubber tires on trailer
  • Spike figure included
  • Roller included (silver color)
  • Retractable ramp
  • Extendable drone module
  • Extendable antenna and claw on drone module
  • Trailer also functions as repair bay
  • Storage for all of KBBMP10-V’s weapons
  • Spike can sit in Roller, drone module, and a control unit inside the trailer
  • Drone module can be extended outside in trailer mode
  • Gap covers for hole used for drone module extension in trailer mode
  • Automatic down deployment of stabilizers when side supports move outward
  • Roller’s rear top can be transformed to allow for towing of trailer

Look at all the features above – this thing is just awesome! I’m probably forgetting some features too.

MP10-V Tactical Container is totally worth the money. I recommend this purchase with no hesitation.

That’s it for this month. Stats for the month:

  • 3 Studio Series figs
  • 1 G1 reissue
  • 3 4th party items

Until next time… Transform and Roll Out.
 

Categories: On The Hunt, Pics

Cybertronian Halloween 2018

October 31st, 2018 Comments off

Halloween is here again! And you know what that means here at TFMatrix! The new orange TFs make their special appearance for a group photo with my plush pumpkin.

I always try to use orange TFs that I haven’t used before. And seriously, there has not been that many orange TFs since last time. I only found 4 figs that I would qualify as orange. And 3 of them are not even new, they were just forgotten or left out in previous Halloween posts. But better late than never. They now appear for 2018.

From left to right:

Here are links to previous Halloween posts.
Cybertronian Halloween 2016
Cybertronian Halloween 2014
Cybertronian Halloween 2012 (scroll down to last pic)

For the robots in disguise, everyday is Halloween! Transform and Roll Out!
 

Categories: Pics