2018 is starting off with a bang. Power of the Primes is in full swing. Some nice 3P products and one Masterpiece figure adds to this month’s collection to start the new year right.

• Power of the Primes Micronus, Target, $4.99
• Power of the Primes Liege Maximo, Target, $4.99
• Power of the Primes Vector Prime, Target, $4.99

• Power of the Primes Grimlock, amazon.com, $24.99

• Power of the Primes Slug, Walmart, $16.82

• Power of the Primes Swoop, Walmart, $16.82

• Titans Return Arcee, toysrus.com, $24.99
• Titans Return Grotusque, toysrus.com, $24.99

• Power of the Primes Evolution Optimus Prime, Target, $44.99

• Power of the Primes Evolution Rodimus Prime, Target, $44.99

• Masterpiece Sunstreaker, amiami.com, ¥9959 (about $91.48)

• Dr. Wu Blue Skybreaker Sword, tfsource.com, $17.99

• DX9 Gewalt, tfsource.com, $139.99

Micronus, Liege Maximo, Vector Prime

I like the Prime Masters. For those that don’t know, Prime Masters are the master class figures that came released as part of the Power of the Primes line. The master figures can go inside an exo-suit, and the exo-suit transforms into a weapon. G1-ers can think of them as a Targetmaster and Pretender rolled into one.

In my opinion, the Prime Masters are countless times superior to Titan Masters. Titan Masters are the modern day equivalent of Headmasters, but the accessory that comes with them are so lame. With Prime Masters, Hasbro actually made Pretenders cool. Didn’t think I would live to see this day.

The 3 Prime Masters below are Micronus, Liege Maximo, Vector Prime. Though G1-ers will instantly recognize they are using the Pretender shells of Cloudburst, Skullgrin, and Metalhawk. Good to see that Hasbro did not forget their G1 roots. As a sidebar, I still have my Couldburst and Skullgrin from G1, in pretty good shape too.

In the pic below, the Prime Masters are inside the outer shell.

All transformed to weapons, shown in the pic below. Notice the Prime Master of each figure is transformed into a block attached on top of the weapon. You could do this or just leave them inside in weapon mode.

Overall, I highly recommend the Prime Masters. They are fun to play with and their weapon modes serve a real purpose.

Grimlock, Slug, Swoop

Power of the Primes finally gives us some G1-worthy updates of the Dinobots. And I don’t just mean Grimlock. PotP is doing the whole team. Purchased this month are Grimlock, Slug (Slag), and Swoop. Below I have them in their dino modes.

As a whole, these Dinobots are not too shabby. They are true G1 derivatives, updated for this modern era. However, in my last post, I did mention that this PotP Grimlock pales in comparison to the many 3P offerings that are available today. If you have bought any of them, you will find that these PotP Dinobots simply don’t compare in quality or aesthetics. But on the other hand, you can’t get better G1-esque Dinobots for the price. Grimlock is only about $25, the rest about $17. Hasbro is offering a way to get decent upgrades of G1 Dinobot characters without breaking the bank.

The pic above shows off Grimlock, Slug (Slag), and Swoop. They each look solid in their dino mode, and in robot mode (not pictured) they look just as good too. Transformation of each of these is on the simple side, with obvious transformation schemes for anyone familiar with G1 and CHUG. When complete, the 5 figures will combine. I kinda wish they didn’t do this, as implementing the combination mechanics means putting restrictions on other aspects of the figure, such as the dino modes, robot modes, and sizes of the figures. Grimlock at voyager size is fine, but I do with the other Dinobots are bigger than deluxe.

Overall, I recommend these. Sure they’re not as good as the 3P stuff out there, but Hasbro hasn’t done anything this G1 for the Dinobots in, like, never. Do them a solid and show that you appreciate this effort by buying them.

Arcee and Grotusque

Arcee and Grotusque are Toys R Us exclusives. This was the last online purchase I made from Toys R Us, before they went belly up. To this day I still have not opened these. It’s mostly because I love the packaging that they come in, that I don’t want to ruin it. And these are both repaints, so it’s not like I haven’t seen the mold. Arcee is a repaint of TR Brainstorm and TR Blurr. Grotusque is a repaint of Twinferno. I am more inclined to open Grotusque, to complete my Monsterbots (I will have Repugnus in a later month).

I will show off how they look in the cool packaging. Pics below.

Each of these figs come with two Titan Masters. Grotusque comes with Scorponok and Fengul, and Arcee comes with Ultra Magnus and Leinad. What kind of name is Leinad? It’s Daniel spelled backwards. Oh what will these crazy Hasbro writers think of next.

Optimus Prime and Rodimus Prime

Toward the end of the month, I started my paternity leave. Having a baby changes your life. The wife sent me to Target for some baby stuff one Saturday night. I welcomed the opportunity as it allowed me to get out of the house. But more importantly, it gave me a chance to hunt for some TFs. I love my daughter, but anyone who’s had a baby will tell you that you need to do some stuff that reminds you of the person you were prior to the baby. For me, hunting for TFs satisfy that requirement. That, and writing in this blog.

But back to the topic at hand. On this trip to Target, I found Evolution Optimus Prime and Rodimus Prime. Both are leader class figs, and both have the “Evolution” tag written above their names. This is because both figs include a smaller fig that represents their persona before taking on the mantle of Autobot leadership: Orion Pax for Optimus, and Hot Rod for Rodimus.

Let’s look at Optimus first. He looks great in the box. At Target I was astonished how close he looks to MP-10 Optimus. After I opened the figure and had him side by side with MP-10 (and I should have taken a pic of this), I was amazed at how much Evolution OP resembles MP-10. The two are about the same size. In your hands, MP-10 weights quite a bit more than Evolution OP. But the details and the paint job of Evolution OP is on par with the MP figure. I’m especially impressed with the head mold of Evolution OP, it’s MP quality.

To transform, the smaller figure detaches from the rest through the back. This smaller figure transforms into the cab, while the rest of the body forms the trailer. Think of how G1 Ultra Magnus or Powermaster Optimus Prime does it. Picture below.

Obviously the cab can detached from the trailer. The cab can then transform into Orion Pax by itself. The whole things sounds gimmicky, but Evolution OP implements all this very well. A review is definitely in order and I plan to do one soon.

Rodimus Prime has all the similar features. It’s packed in robot mode just like Optimus. Rodimus is a bit more of a puzzle former, and he does remind of the FansProject Protector upgrade kit designed for Classics Rodimus. To transform, you first detach Hot Rod from the rest of the figure. Hot Rod will transform into the front cab, while the body forms the trailer. Pic below.

The front cab will come out as the Hot Rod race car. And this can transform into Hot Rod. All in all, I like this figure too. I recommend both the Evolution leader figures. They are not perfect, but they offer very good alternatives to buying MP versions of these characters at affordable prices. And for both of them, you get two characters in one package. Oh, and they both come with Matrix holders where you can plug Titan Masters into them.

Sunstreaker

MP Sunstreaker was pre-ordered months ago. During my paternity leave, it finally showed up on my doorstep (or maybe it was in the mailbox). He is packaged in car mode like all the other MP cars. And you would expect this to scale well with all other MP cars, especially Sideswipe.

I looked through all my pics, and I guess I didn’t take any of Sunstreaker by himself in alt mode. I can only find pics of him and Sideswipe, so here they are. Notice how well they scale together.

I cannot be happier with the alt mode of Sunstreaker. The Lamborghini alt mode is just as good as Sideswipe’s, and the scale is so on par. He is in his trademark yellow, and his iconic rear mounted engines is proof of having a “Super Tuning” Lamborghini alt mode.

MP Sunstreaker is VERY VERY IMPRESSIVE from an engineering perspective. The transformation is something to behold. And yes, he is difficult. I used instructions because I’m always worried that I’ll break something for such a complicated piece, but it is possible to do it without them if you’re looking for a challenge. I only transformed him once, from car to robot. So I don’t remember it too well now as I write this. But I do remember there were a lot of steps, and I that the backpack transforming sequence is simultaneously awe-inspiring and demanding. Sunstreaker is definitely not a figure that you actively play often to transform it over and over. But when you are finally done, it is so rewarding. Check out the awesome looking robot mode.

Sunstreaker is well built. All joints are nice and tight. In robot mode he scales well with other MP Autobot cars. He can be put into some nice action poses.

Great face sculpt worthy of the handsome Autobot.

Below are shots of the backpack. A lot goes on to get the backpack in this configuration, and this is a testament to the engineering brilliance of this figure. Those that like to nit-pick could argue there’s a bit of junk here, the backpack is quite thick when viewed from the side. But when you consider how much of the alt mode is folded into this, I can easily overlook this minor distraction. The rest of Sunstreaker is completely kibble-free.

Sunstreaker can store his pistol on the back. He also comes with a Chip Chase figure. MP Sunstreaker is not too playable because of the high difficulty, but as a collector piece he gets my highest possible recommendation.

Blue Skybreaker Sword

I got the Blue Skybreaker Sword to push my order over $150 to get free shipping (the order was this and Gewalt, below). I chose this accessory because I still need a sword to go with my TF Prime Beast Hunter Optimus Prime. The stock sword is broken, and the handle is stuck in his right fist. The story of that incident is documented here. As soon as I can get that handle out, I will consider this figure repaired and using this better sword. See the pic above in all its shiny blue glory. I can’t wait for OP to try this sword in his robot mode.

Gewalt

Last but certainly not least, we have Gewalt, DX9’s homage to Blitzwing. And I’ll get straight to it: Gewalt is awesome! As of this writing, there has been some attempts at a MP Blitzwing by various 3Ps. DX9 Gewalt is by far the best, and the preferred MP Blitzwing by most hard core fans. Fans Toys does have their offering coming up, but that’s been on pre-order for more than 2 years now and to this day still no real pics other than computer renders. FT usually has me impressed, but I got sick of waiting for them. Gewalt is so thoroughly spectacular that FT needs to come up big for me to consider their interpretation of Blitzwing.

Gewalt is German for violence, if any of you are wondering. He comes packed in tank mode, and for good reason. The tank mode is the most compact mode, and thus easy to fit into the box. The tank mode is good, and I should have took a pic. However, I would consider the tank mode the weakest of the 3 modes. Gewalt really shines in his 2 other modes. Consider the jet mode below.

Now that is Blitzwing! This is the MiG-25 that he was meant to be. Yes I know some G1 purists will bash it for not having the thick tank-kibble wings that he had in G1, but c’mon. The wings in that shape was nasty and in no way reflect how a MiG-25 looks. They only looked like that because of the toy limitations in the 80s. Gewalt’s jet mode is a vast improvement and updates this alt mode to modern MP standards.

The colors in this mode are unmistakably Blitzwing. I have a pic above showing off Gewalt in jet mode next to ToyWorld Requiem (or Elegy, as he is sometimes called). Gewalt is a big figure, but scales nicely with other MPs.

Now for his robot mode. Check it out:

Now if that’s not Blitzwing, than I don’t know what is. The way he looks, it’s like he stepped straight out of the G1 Movie. Blitzwing got a decent amount of screen time in the movie, up til the fracas inside Astrotrain after the injured Decepticons were jettisoned.

Articulation for Gewalt is pretty good. And the figure is so well built that he can hold all those poses. Gewalt’s transformation does test your abilities as a TransFan. I won’t say it’s difficult, like say Sunstreaker, but it’s certainly not easy. I only transformed it once from tank to jet, then again from jet to robot. I’m not sure I will be able to go back without looking at the instructions. But that’s a challenge for another day.

For accessories, he comes with his rifle, his sword, the tank cannon (which can be removed), an extra screaming face, and some extra waist parts (I’m not entirely sure that they’re waist parts, and I don’t know if they go on Gewalt or some other DX9 figure).

Here I have a pic of Gewalt with a fabulous rub-on faction decal.

That’s all the items for the month. Again, 2018 started with a bang, with so many figures. And they’re all quality products too. The only two pieces here that I would possibly not recommend is Arcee and Grotusque, and I only say that because they’re repaints. I recommend everything else. It’s a good time to be a TransFan.

Transform and Roll Out!

 

My fellow TransFans, June of 2016 is a historic month! For the first time in the history of this blog, I have acquired more 3rd party items than official Takara/Hasbro items! I think something like this phenomenon was brewing for a long time now. And it finally happened. I’ll comment more on this later, but for now let’s take a look at the figs for the month.

• Combiner Wars Groove, bbts.com, $24.99

• ToyWorld Iron Dreg, bbts.com, $91.99

• Fans Toys Grenadier, bbts.com, $82.99

• Spark Toys Alpha Pack, gift

• Warbotron Heavy Noisy, gift

First let’s look at the lone offical Hasbro purchase and get that out of the way. Combiner Wars deluxe Protectobot Groove is a shared exclusive between Amazon and some of the bigger online TF retailers. This figure is not to be confused with the legend size Groove released in 2015, which is available in mass retail. I have wrote about this before, and it’s worth stating again. For the Protectobots, Hasbro gave us deluxe Rook instead of deluxe Groove. I can only guess that this is a cheap ploy to sell more figures. Those of us that are hardcore G1 had to buy deluxe Groove the hard way. Boo Hasbro.

Deluxe Groove on its own is not a bad figure. Both modes look solid, and at first glance there’s not much to complain about. I’m fairly certain he’s a new unique mold, but he feels awfully similar to the other CW limb components. The toy itself feels quite cheap, but all CW deluxe figs share that flaw. The only real reason to get this fig is for hardcore G1-ers to complete the Protectobots with the right characters in the right scale. Below is a pic of CW Defensor formed in the proper G1 configuration.

Now onto the good stuff. First on the agenda is ToyWorld Iron Dreg, their tribute to Dinobot Slag. I believe this figure was bought back in the March of 2016. At the time, I already had Roar (Snarl) and Corelock (Grimlock), and I was so thoroughly impressed with those two that I vowed to complete the TW Dino set. So when I saw Iron Dreg at a discount in March, its purchase was a no-brainer. He wasn’t shipped and received til this month, because I wanted to ship the stack out along with Grenadier and Groove.

As of this writing now in February of 2017, I have 4 of these Dinos, the only missing one being Spear (Swoop). Though I gotta say, out of these 4, Iron Dreg is the weakest figure. I love the dino mode. It is a good modern update of Slag as a powerful metallic triceratops. The transformation and robot mode is where this figure falls a bit short in my opinion. The overall transformation schema is very close to how Slag transformed in the G1 toy. The only noticeable difference is having the rear dino legs fold inside into the lower legs in robot mode, a common motif among all modern interpretations of Dinobots. There are other minor differences, but nothing that really sticks out as a significant mechanical enhancement to the figure. Hardcore G1-ers would probably appreciate this close resemblance to what came before and see this as a plus. Normally I would wholeheartedly agree, but in the case of Iron Dreg, I feel there’s not enough updated from the G1 toy. As a CHUG update, I feel like a modern figure needs to move the toy forward in terms of engineering. It’s one thing to update aesthetics (something that fans passionately debate over), but it’s quite another to update mechanics. Everything feels too familiar. Don’t get me wrong, Iron Dreg is still a decent update of how Slag would be today. But when compared to ToyWorld’s efforts on Corelock, Roar, and Muddy (Sludge), Iron Dreg feels lazy. I guess it’s no accident that Iron Dreg was the 2nd to the last figure released in this team of 5. While we’re on that note, Spear is the last TW Dinobot released. I have read reviews that Spear is not that great of a figure, so I am debating if I want to spend around $100 to buy a bad figure, just to complete the set. First world problems – woe is me 🙁

As for Iron Dreg’s robot mode, I got the same gripe as its engineering – it feels too similar to G1. Again, Iron Dreg is still leaps and bounds superior to the G1 figure. It’s just that there’s nothing that wows me about this robot mode. All the updates that you expect to be there is there, but that’s all. TW most definitely did not go above and beyond with Iron Dreg, and the result feels like a minimally done update to Slag by 2016 standards.

I know I sound really harsh here, but I still recommend Iron Dreg if your aim is to complete the TW Dinobot set. As part of a team, he is solid enough of a figure that he warrants a purchase to occupy a space on your shelf. But as a standalone figure, I would say pass. There are other Dinos from TW that are way better. If you only wanted to get one Dinobot, you would probably get Grimlock anyway. Below is a pic of Iron Dreg in robot form.

Here is a link to the 4 TW Dinos I have thus far, in their dino modes. I love how the team looks together.

Let’s now take a look at a character that’s very dear to me: Bombshell. I have outlined how Bombshell is my very first official Transformer. And for that reason, I try to buy all the modern updates to the character. I have one set of G1 reissues, the FansProject update (as Stormbomb), and the recent Combiner Wars legend figure. I even have Hardshell, a spiritual update of the character in the TF Prime Beast Hunters line.

By the middle of 2016, many third parties have attempted MP interpretations of everyone’s favorite robotic insect pests. I read and watched some reviews, and the general consensus is that Fans Toys make the best MP Insecticons. And since Bombshell is my favorite of the 3, I bought Fans Toys Grenadier. I know many fans prefer the grey chest toon version of this figure. But I elected for the toy version with the purple chest, because that’s how the G1 toy was. I played with this figure over and over as a kid, and transformed him countless number of times that today this figure is in fairly poor condition. The G1 figure had a purple chest, and that’s what I remember, so I went for purple in Grenadier. And honestly, I didn’t even notice that Bombshell had a grey chest in the cartoon until very recently, when third parties started doing their MP Insecticons.

FT Grenadier comes packaged in robot mode. The first thing that you will notice about this figure upon taking it out of the box is that it’s got some decent heft to it! Seriously, Grenadier weighs more than most figures I own, and that’s saying a lot! Below is a pic. This figure is a wonderful representation of Bombshell in MP scale.

FT was smart enough to mold a design on Grenadier’s chest that’s a perfect fit for third party Decepticon stickers. Notice on my Grenadier I have a faction symbol on his chest, using stickers by Ocean Designs that I bought sometime in 2015. I love the look of Grenadier in robot mode. Appearance wise, he’s a perfect homage to Bombshell, and in my opinion he strikes the perfect balance between how he appears in the cartoon and how he should appear as a toy figure. He scales nicely with other MPs on the shelf. Grenadier has got some decent articulation, capable of some dynamic poses if you want to re-enact scenes of Bombshell in action.

Transformation to bug mode can be a mediocre challenge, but not for the reasons you think. As a rule, I think transforming plastic pieces is usually easier than transforming metal pieces. Transforming Grenadier, it feels like the whole figure is metal. I know that’s not true, but the figure has a fair amount of die-cast, and the plastic used is super high quality. While I applaud the materials used, transforming the figure becomes difficult. There’s very little wiggle room for error when such hard pieces on the figure are used, and thus the process becomes unforgiving. The tight joints also do not lend to an easy transformation process. However, all this is balanced out by the transformation mechanism being on the simple side, resulting in a figure of average difficulty on the challenge scale. In a nut shell, not a whole lot of steps in the transformation, and it’s obvious what the next steps should be. But performing the steps could take some work.

In beetle mode, Grenadier does not disappoint. He’s got the same weighty feel and robust construction that he has in robot mode. The appearance of the bug is tremendously faithful to his show likeness. Fans Toys even included a set of alternate legs for the bug mode. I’m not sure what they are for entirely. It’s possible that, in some episodes, Bombshell had legs that looked more like the alternate legs. I should have took a pic of Grenadier alone in beetle mode. Scroll down to the bottom of this post of Grenadier in alt mode in a group shot.

I highly recommend Grenadier. Here is a pic of Grenadier in robot mode with some of his Decepticon cohorts.

The next two figures are gifts from my wife. I have wishlists set up on my favorite TF retail sites, and she just looks at these when she buys me TFs as gifts. It’s always kind of a surprise which figs she would choose.

The first of these is from a new company called Spark Toys. They decided to do their take on a War Within Optimus Prime. Back in 2006, when it was only 2 years after I started collecting TFs again, Hasbro partnered with Galoob to release the Titanium line. The very first figure released in this line is a War Within Optimus Prime. In all fairness, that figure wasn’t bad. I liked both modes of that figure. The transformation, while simple, captured how a Optimus Prime figure should transform. The paint applications of the figure was solid. Where that figure fell apart is in the construction. The selling feature of the Titanium line is that they include die-cast parts. But they say die-cast construction is a lost art, and in the case of Titanium figures, it’s very true. Titanium OP had some of the worst joints imaginable in a TF. They could not support the weight of the die-cast pieces. The result is a figure that can’t hold any kind of pose, and picking up the figure yields a floppy mess of a Transformer.

Well, that was then. 10 years later in 2016, Spark Toys makes their attempt to do justice to War Within Optimus Prime, in MP scale no less. And since they are third party, the name they are calling OP is Alpha Pack. I’m glad to report that Spark Toys’ efforts is a success! The first thing you will notice about getting this guy out of the box is the spectacular paint job! I think of all the TFs that I have acquired, this guy may have the best paint job ever. The reds, blues, and silvers have this shiny and glossy metallic property to its appearance, and it’s great to see that the application is uniform across the figure. Front head lights and rear tail lights are all accented in bright yellow paint. The tires a made of rubber, and in vehicle mode, Alpha Pack rolls well on a flat surface.

Alpha Pack comes with 3 accessories: the famous OP rifle, an axe (not the energon variety), and their take on the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. In alt mode, Alpha Pack can carry the rifle in the top rear area of the truck. To do this, there is a nice little attachment handle that flips out of the rifle, and this can be hidden when Alpha Pack is using the rifle in robot mode. Very very cool. The Matrix can be comfortably stored in the front grill area (which becomes the chest in robot mode). But there is no room for the axe in alt mode.

Below are some pics of the alt mode of Alpha Pack. I love the look of Alpha Pack in this mode – he looks like he jumped straight out of the comics. I applied an Ocean Designs decal to him as well.

Below is a pic of Alpha Pack next to the awesome DX9 Carry (which I will go into next month).

Transformation to robot mode is not difficult at all. I’m going by all memory here, but in terms of the transformation paradigm and overall number of steps, it feels like the Alpha Pack is only slightly upgraded from the Titanium figure. The mechanics of how that’s achieved, however, is a vast improvement. Alpha Pack does not have any die-cast pieces as far as I can tell, but in opinion that’s a good thing. It makes for a more playable figure. And as far as transformation and poseability, not having die-cast poses less issues in these areas. Alpha Pack has nice joints to support the figure, but not having die-cast means it doesn’t need extra joint reinforcement to begin with.

Alpha Pack looks great in robot mode. The figure feels true to his War Within appearance. Look at the top banner of this blog for a pic of War Within OP if you are not familiar with that incarnation. The outstanding paint job shines in this mode as well. Some fans have mentioned that he looks a tad too bulky in robot mode. When standing next to MP-10, it’s hard to argue against that complaint. But personally, I kind of dig this bulky look. This is how a lot of the comic book artists choose to stylize Optimus Prime in his Cybertron days, and I am glad to see Spark Toys hold true to this design. Below is a pic of Alpha Pack next to the US Version of MP-10.

One gripe I have about Alpha Pack is the poseability. Because he is a bit on the bulky side, his range of poses are more limited. This is something to note if you are one of those collectors that love to display your figures in dynamic poses. But despite this weakness, I still highly recommend Alpha Pack. This figure has way more pluses than minuses, and if you are a fan of War Within or any of the modern G1 Transformer origin stories of their era prior to Earth, you should pick up this figure.

The other figure that I got as a gift from my wife this month is Heavy Noisy, which is Warbotron’s rendition of Brawl. This is the 2nd time that my wife has chosen to get me something from the Warbotron Combaticons (the first being Whirlwind, or Vortex). My wife knows nothing about Transformers. She picks out the figures on my wishlist based on appearance alone. She has always joked that she identifies more with the Decepticons, so perhaps she knows more than she’s letting on.

Heavy Noisy is the 4th figure I have in the Warbotron Combaticon line. I gotta say though, this one feels like the weakest out of the four so far. He’s still a decent figure, but something about him just don’t feel quite up to par with the other team members. Both modes are satisfactory. Transforming the arms into tank mode is a bit of a pain because they are so tight, and it’s even worse when you try to get them back to robot mode. I’m also not thrilled about the tank turret becoming a shield. It feels too much like puzzle forming in my book. But Heavy Noisy is not a bad figure by any means. He is solid enough to earn a place in your collection, and you still need him to form Bruticus. I’ll reserve my final thoughts for when I have all 5 members of Warbotron. As of this writing, I have purchased Air Burst (Blast Off). I should have him in hand soon.

Below I have a pic of all the 3rd party figures acquired this month in a group shot.

It’s quite a sight to see how far 3rd party products have come. I still remember my very first 3rd party figure, which was Defender by FansProject. Third parties have really stepped up their game since then. Most of the figures produced recently seem to be in really high quality. They rival anything that Hasbro/Takara has produced in the MP line, and blows away anything that you would find in retail store shelves. Third party products are not getting any cheaper, though. So many companies are getting into this game that I can’t count them anymore. Very often, multiple companies will produce their version of a particular character. As fans, I am glad I have so many options on something that Hasbro will not produce, but I also feel handicapped by all these options. Many studies have been done on the paradox of choice; that too many options can actually make a person unhappy. As for third party TFs, is too much of it presented to the buyer that decision paralysis is now an issue? I was gonna sum up my thoughts on this topic in a short paragraph here, but now I think this may deserve it’s own post.

June 2016 was a great month. So many great figures, by so many different companies. More to come soon… Transform and Roll Out.

Behold my fellow TransFans… ToyWorld Dinobots!!! This set looks so good together, I had to make a post on this topic alone. Focus your optics on the pic below.

For those that don’t know, this set of Dinobots is made by 3rd party ToyWorld. Obviously they have to use their own names for the characters since they have no rights to any Hasbro properties. None of them come with any Autobot symbols for the same reason. I bought some TF faction stickers last year, and I applied one to each figure with the exception of Grimlock. The faction stickers are applied to the area that would become the chest in robot mode, so you don’t really see them in this pic (except for Slag, if you look carefully). Here is the name mapping for each character to figure:

• Grimlock – Grimshell (or Corelock)
• Slag – Iron Dreg
• Sludge – Muddy
• Snarl – Roar

I assembled this set together when I received Sludge last week. I actually bought Sludge months ago, back in March. TF Source had a weekend sale so I was able to snag Sludge at $80. But I had nothing else to ship with Sludge, til now. Slag I received about a month ago. Much like Sludge, BBTS had a daily sale on Slag for a tad over $90, and so I snagged him quick. I already kind of went into Grimlock and Snarl. And so here’s the four of them together. I know what you’re thinking… where’s Swoop?! Don’t worry TransFans, I will get him. I’ll take a another pic with the full force when I do.

From a transformation perspective, I like Sludge the best. His transformation is fun and intuitive, and at the same time complex enough to satisfy the mature TransFan without being overly complicated or frustrating. Snarl is good too, but I don’t like how his tail keeps coming off during transformation. It makes me feel like he’s puzzle forming. It is possible to have it stay on, but you would have to be super delicate. Slag is a little too simple transformation wise when going from Dino to Robot. Going back, there is something that’s kinda frustrating with the legs, to have it positioned exactly so it would align with the back. Grimlock has a cool transformation, but in my opinion his T-Rex mode is so much better than the robot mode, so most of the time I just don’t bother. Don’t get me wrong, I think his robot mode is solid. But the T-Rex kicks ass!

I might also take a pic of them all in robot mode. And maybe even the combined mode after I get Swoop! But that’s for another post.

Me Grimlock say… Dinobots kick butt!

Me Grimlock say too… Transform and Roll Out!

October always seem to be a busy month in terms of TF activity. In October of 2012, I set a personal record for most TFs purchases in a month. This month I may have set another new record, of a related but slightly different category. So sit back, relax, and enjoy. This will be a long post.

• Age of Extinction Drift, Toys R Us, $24.99

• Age of Extinction Optimus Prime Evolution 2-Pack, Toys R Us, $44.99

• MakeToys Quantron, tfsource.com, $399.99

• Generations Thrilling 30 Jetfire, bbts.com, $46.99

• Fans Toys Scoria, bbts.com, $199.99

• Transformers Prime Beast Hunters Cyberverse Optimus Prime, bbts.com, $4.99

• Skrapnel with Reflector and Tailgate with Groundbuster, bbts.com, $21.99

• Nemesis Prime with Spinister and Cliffjumper with Suppressor, bbts.com, $21.99

• Generations Thrilling 30 Waspinator, Skids, Goldfire, Dreadwing, bbts.com, $59.99

• Generations Thrilling 30 Crosscut, Nightbeat, Windblade, Jhiaxus, bbts.com, $59.99

Age of Extinction Voyager Drift is a repaint of Skyhammer from Dark of the Moon. It appears they keep using this mold for Movie-verse figs. Skyhammer is one of my favorite figs from DotM, so I had to have this Drift. The figure is exactly the same, other than the head mold, the blue paint scheme, and the swords. Drift’s swords are kinda cool. He can use them separately in each hand, or have them combine into one huge sword.

I bought the Optimue Prime Evolution 2-Pack purely for the repaint of the Classic Prime mold. I love that figure, and this shiny new paint had my attention. The other Prime figure here is a repaint of Evasion Mode Optimus Prime from Age of Extinction. In retrospect, Evasion Mode Prime is one of the only few good figures from TF4, so I’m glad I have this repaint. I did not open this 2-Pack. The collector in me will probably just hold on to this as mint.

When I first head of MakeToys Quantron, I already made up in my mind that I had to have it. Quantron is an homage to the Technobots of G1, my favorite Autobot combiner team to come out of that era. Sure the Aerialbots are the most famous, but I think the Technobots are the coolest. I still remember buying Afterburner, my first fig from this awesome team. I loved his futuritic motorcycle mode. MakeToys Quantron wasn’t cheap. And I’m ashamed to say that as of this writing I still have not had the chance to play with this at all. I barely opened the box a few weeks ago to inspect the contents. Life as a working adult is way too hectic, and all of you reading should rue the day when you don’t have the time to immediately enjoy a $400 toy. But I promise to get to Quantron soon. All reviews I have seen gave it high marks. I know I will not be disappointed.

I have repeatedly mention how cool Generations 30 Jetfire is elsewhere in this blog, so I won’t do it again. Just know that he is awesomeness manifested in physical form. Go out and get yours now.

Masterpiece scale Dinobots is something that many 3rd parties are jumping into lately. These figures are usually $200 each… not cheap by any means. They all look pretty nice. But if I’m to get one, I want to go with a 3rd party that I trust. And so comes Scoria by Fans Toys. I was thoroughly impressed with Quakewave, so I had to give their interpretation of Slag a shot. Scoria does not disappoint. In robot mode he’s big and beefy. Construction is solid, and the transformation to dino feels familiar and refreshing at the same time. Scoria looks awesome in dino mode. I wish I have some pics handy to show him off. Maybe I will in a separate blog post.

I got TF Prime Beast Wars Optimus Prime purely because he was on sale at BBTS. I saw the fig quite frequently on the racks at stores like Walmart and Target and have always wondered if he’s any good. He’s not. A required purchase this ain’t. I already wasted too much time writing about this figure.

Nemesis Prime and Cliffjumper are just repaints of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, respectively. So I won’t talk about them too much. Skrapnel (or Shrapnel) is a cool little G1 Insecticon. This is probably the first time in a long time that Hasbro has made a G1 looking Insecticon. Tailgate is using a mold that will be repainted into Windcharger. This mold is ok. I got this to have a distinct mold for Tailgate, because I think the Reveal the Shield Windcharger is a much better mold and that will be my Windcharger.

The remaining deluxe Generations Thrilling 30 figures I’ll just quickly mention. Goldfire, Nightbeat, Dreadwing, and Jhiaxus are repaints of a figure in the same lineup. I really like Jhiaxus though. I’m liking the color scheme, and Hasbro reworked the mold to be different enough that it feels like a distinct figure. Windblade is a brand new mold. She looks pretty cool in both modes, but the figure itself is kinda flimsy. Waspinator is very cool! This is probably the coolest Waspinator that Hasbro has ever made. I like the wing gimmick. Skids and Crosscut are repaints of each other, though this mold is the first time we’re getting them. I was really looking forward to Skids, since many reviews praised the figure. The car mode is nice, but the robot mode has some poseability issues. There’s so much going on in robot mode that all the features start to block on itself. Still, all the weapons on Skids (and Crosscut) does make for a nice looking figure, when you can get them to pose the way you want.

Ok… that was a lot of figs! 27 total by my count. 23 if you don’t count the Mini-Cons of the Generations Thrilling 30 legends figs. My previous record for single TFs in a month is 24, so this month does surpass that if Mini-Cons are included as separate figures. However there’s one thing that this month sets a record for… and that’s the amount spent! Adding all these up, the total TF spending this month comes to a whopping $885.90! Ouch. That’s a bit much by anyone’s standard. Quantron and Scoria accounts for $600 by themselves alone. I really need to start selling off whatever I don’t play with anymore. Time to list more stuff in my Sales Section.

October is the last month of extravagant TF spending for 2014. Things will die down for the rest of the year.

Oh, one more thing, at the end of Oct 2014 I took another pic of my orange TFs. Check it out.

More to come… Transform and Roll Out!

Once again I’m back home. In anticipation of the upcoming Encore reissue Constructicons, I decided to dig out my knock off Constructicons from back in the mid 80s. These are supposed to be knock offs of the original Diaclone toys, that’s why they’re red and yellow.

In alt form they’re in pretty good shape. I didn’t put the accessories on any of these since I think they look better without them.

In robot mode they began to show their age. Left arm on Mixmaster is broken so I left it at the side. Right leg on Hook is broken at the knee, though you can’t tell from the pic. They show some sticker wear but overall not too bad, unlike my G1 Combaticons where all the stickers are in bad shape. My favorite of these is Bonecrusher. I like his transformation the best. I got all the little guns that each of them have, but after 25+ years I can’t remember which gun goes to who so I didn’t bother.

Combined as the fearsome Devastator. They still hold up pretty well after all this time. Granted, it wasn’t that good to begin with since it’s KO, but after 25+ years this set feels about the same connection wise. Some attachments actually felt tighter than I remembered. KO Devastator is all colorful, kinda like movie Devastator.

Below is KO Devastator next to a genuine Diaclone Slag.

As a kid I treasured this set even though I knew they were KO. Nowadays I keep these around for a good laugh.

Transform and Roll Out!