Archive

Posts Tagged ‘Vortex’

Transformers Purchased in February 2016

December 9th, 2016 Comments off

February in a even year is a month that is typically loaded with TF purchases. This was the case in 2012 and 2014. 2016 follows this trend. Focus your optics on all the figures below.

  • Robots in Disguise Fracture, Toys R Us, $16.99

  • Combiner Wars Vortex, Target, $15.29

  • Combiner Wars Swindle, Target, $15.29

  • Combiner Wars Brawl, Target, $15.29

  • Combiner Wars Blast Off, Target, $15.29

  • Combiner Wars Onslaught, capturedprey.com, $24

  • Combiner Wars Smokescreen, Target, $15.29

  • Combiner Wars Trailbreaker, Target, $15.29

  • Combiner Wars Hound, Target, $15.29

  • Combiner Wars Wheeljack, Target, $15.29

  • Combiner Wars Pipes, capturedprey.com, $10

  • Combiner Wars Chop Shop, capturedprey.com, $12

  • Combiner Wars Buzzsaw, capturedprey.com, $12

  • Masterpiece Ironhide, amiami.com, ¥7490 (about $65.37)

  • Warbotron Fierce Attack, capturedprey.com, $100

As the first order of business, let’s get the lone Robots in Disguise fig out of the way. I’ve said many times already that I’m not a big fan of RiD offerings, but Fracture is not too shabby. I found him when me and the wife took a long Valentines weekend trip to Santa Barbara. He was located at a Toys R Us, not in Santa Barbara, but at a nearby town. I don’t watch the RiD show, so I generally don’t buy the RiD toys based on any knowledge or impressions of the character. I look strictly at the toy. Fracture got my attention because I have never seen him before this, and he genuinely looked like a solid fig in the box. The alt mode also looked interesting. The figure does not disappoint. Both modes are solid, and the figure is well built. No figure in RiD is ever difficult to transform, and Fracture is no exception. But I do like some of the transforming mechanisms implemented here. Hasbro and Takara has in recent years really improved upon motorcycle Transformers. In years past, the robot mode would either look too skinny, or the motorcycle mode would look too fat. Fracture shares none of these faults. I also like the kick-ass rifle he comes with. Fracture is definitely one of the better figs in the RiD line. Recommended.

February is a return to Combiner Wars figures, and this sub-category accounts for most of the figs this month. Last year we saw the Aerialbots, Stunticons, Protectobots, and some random Autobot cars reworked in CW fashion. The Constructicons got a awesome unique set all on their own in the CW lineup. This leaves the Combaticons as the only combiner team before the G1 Movie to not receive Combiner War treatment. I mentioned so many times that Combaticons are my favorite combiner team that I’m starting to sound like a broken record, so needless to say I was very excited about CW Combaticons.

I found the 4 limb Combaticons on the same Valentines trip (but at Target). Onslaught was bought online. In the end, I wasn’t too surprised by what’s produced. 3 of the figs are reworks of existing molds. Blast Off is repainted from Quickslinger (Slingshot), Vortex is cloned from Alpha Bravo, and Onslaught is reworked from Hot Spot. Blast Off and Vortex are pure repaints from pre-existing figs without any kind of mold changes.

Warning! I am going into rant mode. Skip to bottom to avoid the rant.

Blast Off – there is no excuse for Blast Off. His head design is nothing like Slingshot’s, but that’s what we have in this toy. You might think Hasbro is just being lazy here (which they are), but there is a Japanese version of this figure where Blast Off is in a new distinct mold. That figure transforms into a space shuttle and has the right head mold. I don’t understand Hasbro’s decisions sometimes. I know they like to produce molds that can be repainted numerous times to be a variety of figures, so they do the work once and make money repeatedly afterwards. I totally get that. But a true Blast Off is already produced! So why not just bring that over?! Their stupidity dumbfounds me. Some fans have made an argument that a jet fighter better fits into what should comprise of the Combaticons, and that a jet scales better than a shuttle. That argument is sound. But the head mold is still an issue. Hasbro could have at least took the head off of the Japanese mold and stuck it on the US figure.

Vortex – I should have realized this sooner, but Alpha Bravo’s head is exactly like that of Vortex. So this mold was always meant to be Vortex. Hasbro tactically released Alpha Bravo first so G1 chumps like me would buy both figures; I bought Alpha Bravo because he was a new mold at the time, and then I bought Vortex because he comes from the famous Combaticons. If the order was reversed, I would have ignored Alpha Bravo altogether. This seems to be Hasbro’s strategy recently. Some other recent examples include releasing Titans Return Sentinel Prime before Astrotrain, and Robots in Disguise Paralon before Scorponok. Notice the more famous character of the same mold is released last, while other less famous or even newly made up characters are released first. Damn you Hasbro! This is such a cheap trick that I feel stupid for not recognizing it sooner. I need to be more vigilant on what Hasbro plans to produce.

End of rant

As for Onslaught, he’s a tweak off of Hot Spot. Hasbro made enough differences here that Onslaught feels like a distinct figure. He’s fine enough on his own in alt mode and robot mode, but he suffers from the same issues that Hot Spot has in combined form. As the gestalt’s center, this figure in combined mode has issues with weight distribution and figure cohesiveness. CW Silverbolt is still the best mold for a standard CW gestalt.

The new molds for the Combaticons are Swindle and Brawl. I like them. Both figs are good modern updates and accurately capture Swindle and Brawl in their G1 persona. Of course Hasbro would waste no time repainting these molds. In fact, Swindle would be repainted into Hound in this same month (more on this later). And I believe Brawl is reworked into Nosecone of the CW Technobots.

Like I said, this CW Combaticons team is pretty much what I expected. They repainted these figures so many times now that it wouldn’t be hard to envision any combiner team in these molds. Unless you are partial to Combaticons like me, there isn’t a whole lot of good reasons to buy this set. Just get Swindle and Brawl if you feel you need the new molds. Below are some pics of Combaticons.

The next 4 CW figs are Smokescreen, Trailbreaker, Hound, and Wheeljack. These are ALL repaints. What can I say? I’m a sucker for G1 characters. I buy them in almost any form that Hasbro will make them. Smokescreen is an exact repaint of Prowl, but this is okay since that’s how it was back in G1. Trailbreaker and Hound are cloned from Ironhide and Swindle, respectively, but with new head molds. Wheeljack, while technically a repaint, is the most reworked mold here. In addition to the new head mold, he gets some molding differences in alt mode that makes him feel quite different from Sunstreaker. I won’t go in depth for this group since they’re so similar to figures that have already come before them. Below are pics of this Combiner Wars foursome, not combined.

It’s a good thing these Combiner Wars repaints stopped here. If Hasbro really wanted to, they could do another foursome: Bluestreak from Smokescreen, Sideswipe from Sunstreaker, Hoist from Trailbreaker, and Ratchet from First Aid. I should stop writing here. Don’t want to give Hasbro any more ideas.

Now let’s take a look at the legend size CW figs this month: Pipes, Chop Shop, and Buzzsaw. In G1, Pipes is a Minibot that appeared in Season 3. He might have had cartoon appearances, but I honestly don’t know since Season 3 was so forgettable. I am kinda partial to the character though, because I had the G1 toy. I got him at Lucky, of all places. Mom took me shopping for groceries and she was kind enough to buy it for me. So yeah, that’s why I even bought CW Pipes. Pipes is the 4th character of this mold (after Optimus Prime, Nemesis Prime, and Huffer). Normally that would be a total skip, but I added Pipes to my collection out of pure nostalgia. Chop Shop was a Deluxe Insecticon during G1. His toy appeared in Season 2, but he never made an animated appearance. CW Chop Shop is a repaint of Skrapnel (Shrapnel). In G1 he was not a repaint of anything. I probably could have skipped this purchase as well, but these little bugs are just too cool. Buzzsaw is a brand new mold. Buzzsaw needs on introduction, but everyone just thinks of him as that repaint of Laserbeak. So here is another example of releasing the less known character first, like stated in my rant above. Damn you Hasbro! CW Buzzsaw is a triple changer. He still has his iconic condor mode. For modern day standards, the tape cassette mode is now replaced by a tablet mode. And he gets a new vehicle mode that’s like a car or armored truck kind of thing. Overall, Buzzsaw is a neat little figure, but not a must-buy by any means. Actually, none of these legend figs are must-buys by any stretch of the imagination. Below is a pic of the three of them.

Next on the agenda is a figure that many of us, including myself, have been waiting for: Masterpiece Ironhide! If you are a G1 fan, then you know that Ironhide is one of the most iconic Autobots, behind perhaps only Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. You would also know that in G1, his toy did not really have a robot mode. His cartoon robot mode appearance is something totally made up by the animation creators (same goes for Ratchet, his ambulance repaint). I am glad to report that MP Ironhide is an awesome figure! Both robot and alt mode are faithfully reproduced from the show. Check out a pic of the very cartoon accurate robot mode below!

Now that is Ironhide! Takara has outdone themselves with this figure. I can’t get over how good he looks; it’s like he stepped straight out of the cartoon. Transformation wise, this figure hits it out of the park. He comes packaged in alt mode (see below), and as of this writing I only transformed him once to robot mode. But I remember the transformation being pure genius. Difficulty is just right too for a MP fig. There’s enough complexity going on to satisfy the most hardcore of TransFans, and at the same time not overly difficult or frustrating. In fact this figure is fun to transform. And that’s saying a lot considering both modes look so good. Below is a pic of the back of Ironhide. He’s so kibble free too! Check it out.

In the pic above he’s wearing the rocket boost backpack. If I took that off, he would look even more kibble free. Construction of the figure is perfect. All joints and transformation points are just the right amount of tightness. He also comes with accessories galore. And he comes with a tray to hold those accessories when they’re not in use. The shape of the tray kind of resembles the base of his G1 robot mode. That’s too cool! See the pics below.

MP Ironhide scales nicely with other MPs. Below is a pic of him next to MP Optimus Prime, Streak (aka Bluestreak), Wheeljack, G2 Bumble (aka Bumblebee), and Invisible (aka Mirage).

I can’t recommend MP Ironhide enough. All G1 TransFans need this in their collection. No excuses.

Last but not least, the only 3rd party figure this month is Fierce Attack. This is Warbotron’s homage to Onslaught. That makes this the 2nd Onslaught figure this month. I’m not sure if I have ever bought two of the same character in a single month (not counting if I buy doubles of the same thing)! As of this writing, I haven’t had the chance to spend that much time with Fierce Attack. I transformed him once from alt mode to robot mode, and that’s it. But what I can say is that I like both modes. He’s well built and I don’t detect any obvious weaknesses in construction. Poseability is somewhat limited, but I need to spend more time with the figure to fully verify that assertion. I will report more on Fierce Attack after I get all 5 Warbotron Combaticons. I really liked Sly Strike (Swindle) and Whirlwind (Vortex), and I like what I see so far on Fierce Attack. Below is a pic.

Whew! Last was a long post. I didn’t know there were so many TFs this month until I counted them up. Here are the stats breakdown for the month:

  • 1 fig from Robots in Disguise
  • 12 figs from Combiner Wars
  • 1 Masterpiece fig
  • 1 3rd party fig

I am obviously buying way too many Combiner Wars figures. A lot of them are repaints too. By my count, out of the 15 figures total, 9 of them are repaints! That’s way too many. The repaints outnumber the non-repaints 3 to 2. The only non-repaints are Fracture, Swindle, Brawl, Buzzsaw, Ironhide, and Fierce Attack. I seriously need to be more selective about which TFs I buy. I see myself selling some of these figures in the near future. Not because they’re bad, but because I really don’t need repaints of the same thing.

Until next time… Transform and Roll Out.

Categories: On The Hunt, Pics

Transformers Purchased in December 2015

October 4th, 2016 Comments off

Finally! We have come to the end of 2015. Here are the purchases for the last month of 2015.

  • Combiner Wars Devastator, tfsource.com, $109.99

  • Masterpiece Exhaust, hlj.com, $44.51

  • FansProject Function-X4 Sigma L, tfsource.com, $69.99

  • Warbotron Whirlwind, gift

This may be the first month were I only got Decepticons! Long live Decepticons!

First on the list is Combiner Wars Constructicons and Devastator. This group needs no introduction. The Constructicons were the first combiner group to debut in G1, and I’m glad Hasbro is doing this team justice by giving them unique molds that are completely different from the rest of the Combiner Wars line. I reported on this set back in this post and this post, and at the very last month in 2015 I finally have this awesome set in my hands. For it’s 2015 Black Friday sale, TFSource was letting this go at a very reasonable price. I wasted no time buying these Constructicons as soon as I saw the sale.

Individually, each Constructicon look quite nice their vehicle modes. They are true to their G1 appearance, and build quality is solid and robust. In the individual robot modes, some figures are better than others. Long Haul is one fig that looks quite awful in robot mode. And that is clearly because of the function he serves in combined form. And that combined form is the main attraction of the set. So without further ado, I give you… Devastator!

Now that is an awesome Devastator! He is freakin’ huge! Check out the pic below of him next to a standard deluxe size CHUG Seeker.

Hasbro has done some pretty stupid stuff with combining robots in the past, such as the Movie Devastator and Power Core Combiners. You may be left jaded after buying those products, but believe me, all is forgiven after seeing THIS Devastator in person. I don’t know if this figure is meant to scale with CHUG or MP figs, but it doesn’t matter. He’s so big and tall that his size would be appropriate when displayed next to either set. This combiner is solid. The leg combining mechanism is quite clever. It’s easy to do, and at the same time provides a most solid connection. The body and arm connections are more standard fare when compared to the 3rd party Devastators, such as TFC Hercules and MakeToys Giant.

Much like all the modern Constructicons, Devastator’s head is part of Hook, and no connection pieces are required between any of the six components. The only extraneous pieces are the forearms, fists, chest shield, and Devastator’s gun. Hasbro has designed places for them in alt mode, and they can be used as accessories in robot mode. Glaringly missing are the individual hand held pistols for each figure in robot mode. Not a big deal if you ask me. In G1, it was difficult to remember who had which gun. And this set was meant to be displayed combined in the awesomeness that is Devastator.

Devastator has got some limited poseability. He’s got all the standard articulation points that you would expect, but as a combiner the range of poses would be more limited than a standalone figure. Personally I don’t think that’s an issue. This figure is so big, so solid, and looks so G1 that you have to get it if you call yourself a G1 fan. Sure, there are some 3rd parties out there now that are doing Constructicons that may be superior (such as ToyWorld and Generation Toys), but their sets would cost 6 times as much. For the price, the Hasbro set can’t be beat. Get this now if you haven’t already. You won’t regret it.

Next up we have Masterpiece Exhaust. I’m not familiar with this character at all. His origin may have been from the Japanese continuation of G1, but I could be wrong. I got him because I love the MP Wheeljack mold. Plus HLJ was having a pretty good sale on the figure. Exhaust looks absolutely stunning in his alt mode. His flashy and vibrant colors adds a lot to the already beautiful Lancia Stratos Turbo. This alone is worth the price of admission. I like the new head mold in robot mode, and he comes with plenty of extra accessories, including Wheeljack’s “Immobilizer” from the famous G1 episode of the same name. Construction and transformation is just as solid as Wheeljack. I highly recommend this figure even if you already have Wheeljack.

Now onto the 3rd party offerings for the month. Function-X4 Sigma L is by FansProject, and this is their homage to Mindwipe. Function-X is the label that FP uses for all their HeadMaster figures. I was really impressed with Function-X3 Smart Robin (aka Brainstorm). I have G1 Mindwipe from back in the 80s (and still in pretty good shape too), and TFSource had a sale on this Sigma L. For all these reasons, I got the figure. Overall, I say he’s ok. I like the robot mode, and I definitely like the twin shotguns, even though he had nothing of the sort back in G1. In this mode, the wings kinda get in the way, so it becomes difficult to have him posed with the arms raised in any way. He looks fairly cool in bat mode. Construction of the figure is solid. I was hoping that Sigma L would offer some new ingenious mechanisms in transformation like Smart Robin, but that’s not really the case here. It seems like FP decided to give their own spin on this figure. Like they took Dracula and vampires and adapted that whole motif to a HeadMaster robot, the result of that being Sigma L. I applaud them for giving Mindwipe a new spin, but all in all I’m not quite sure it works. There are no obvious shortcomings with the figure, but at the same time it doesn’t wow you either. I guess I give this fig a weak recommendation. If you need a Mindwipe to complete your HeadMaster collection and you find this fig at less than retail, then go for it. Oh, and the name. Why he’s called Sigma L is beyond me. When I see Function and Sigma mentioned in the same phrase, I keep thinking this is some kind of math equation here. Like let’s get the Sum L from this Function X.

Last but not least, there is Whirlwind, Warbotron’s interpretation of Vortex. Whirlwind is a Christmas gift from my wife. This is my 2nd fig in the Warbotron Combaticons, after Sly Strike. I like Whirlwind. I don’t think he’s as good as Sly Strike, but he’s solid nonetheless. He looks great in robot mode. I like all the different ways that the helicopter blades can be configured in this mode. You could leave them on the back, like the Vortex G1 look. Or you could put two on each forearm, and have them point back up the shoulder in rest position, or have them point forward like he’s Wolverine. Or use two in each hand (one up one down), so it looks like he’s wielding 2 twin blades, like if Darth Maul wielded 2 twin-bladed lightsabers. I like his colors in this mode, very G1. Some G1 purists complain about the clear orange canopy on the chest in robot mode, but I think it’s fine. I don’t think it’s distracting at all. In alt mode, the helicopter comes together quite nicely. My biggest gripe in this mode is that, when you spin the main rotors, they would often times make contact with the tail fin rotors. I also don’t like how the front nose cone area of the helicopter is formed by attaching a shield/pistol accessory. Makes me feel like he’s a bit of a parts-former. Constructions wise he’s pretty solid for the most part, but there are more tolerance issues when compared to Sly Strike. Some accessories don’t peg in as well as they should. But overall I still recommend Whirlwind. He’s a worthy addition to your MP-scaled Decepticon lineup.

Below is a pic of some of these figs, in what appears like a bunch of random Decepticons jammed together for one photo shoot. I had these figs scattered about here and there at the time, so I gathered them all up for a pic. Clockwise from top: Sigma L, Scavenger (from CW Devastator), Exhaust, and Megatronus (who snuck in there for no good reason).

Since Whirlwind is not in the pic above, he gets a solo shot.

He also gets a shot of him looking up at Devastator, waiting for the rest of his teammates so Bruticus can devastate Devastator.

Not only was this month all Decepticons, this month was also all on-line purchases. No in-store purchases whatsoever. Not too surprising considering the items acquired. And not counting Whirlwind since he was a gift, all figures were bought on sale. I am the ultimate TF bargain hunter!

That is all for 2015. I’m gonna compile some stats for 2015 and have them ready for the next post. Stay tuned my fellow TransFans. Transform and Roll Out!

Categories: On The Hunt, Pics

Warbotron Combaticons and Bruticus

August 17th, 2013 2 comments

OMG! Right as I was about to leave work on Wed, Gemini sends me a link to some new unlicensed Transformers made by a new unheard of third party! Apparently this new company is called Warbotron. And their first entry is a combiner set homage to G1 Combatcions that will merge into Bruticus! This set must be seen to be believed! Feast your optics on these pics now!!!

News of this set seems to have come out of nowhere. Warbotron? That appears to be the name of the third party company, and not the fictional name of these Combaticon homages. This set has that TFC look all over it, and the size of the figures resemble that of TFC Hercules.

The trend these days is that multiple 3rd party companies are each doing their own interpretation of a G1 combiner team. TFC Toys and Maketoys each took a stab at the Constructicons (Hercules and Giant, respectively), and they both turned out pretty good. Four different companies are doing the Predacons (Unique Toys, Mastermind Creations, TFC, and another newcomer that I can’t remember).

FansProject started this whole trend with their Crossfire upgrade of Bruticus Maximus. I’m glad someone else is now taking a 2nd stab at upgrading my beloved Combaticons in this modern day and age. Don’t get me wrong, I love FansProject Crossfire 02. But it always irked me that only Blastoff and Swindle are new molds, and the rest are Energon molds that are not G1 enough for me. And while they do scale nicely with other CHUG figures individually, recent 3rd party combiners have become bigger (like TFC Hercules), making Crossfire’s combined form appear small by comparison. This new Warbotron set will address both these issues. Check out the pics above with T-Bone. This set will be massive!

Below are some images of these guys individually in robot mode!

Here is someone’s photoshop estimation of how this set will scale with other 3rd party items.

I’m probably gushing way too much here, but I can’t help but be super impressed. I love how they released pics of their products all at once, instead of teasing us with silhouettes. Other fans have pointed out that this set is very G1 accurate, and that other 3rd parties (like FP, Maketoys, and TFC) have been taking too many liberties in their designs.

Current estimation for a pre-order date is Nov. No price estimation is available at this time.

I don’t know how many times I have said this on my blog now, but the Combaticons are my favorite combiner team. FP made my dreams come true with their Crossfire set. Now someone else is making that dream even sweeter!

You can be sure I will keep my optics open for any new developments on this required purchase. Warbotron… Transform and Roll Out!

Categories: Pics, TF News

Transformers Purchased in November 2012

November 30th, 2012 4 comments

There’s a storm passing by the Bay Area right now in Northern California. It’s not raining too heavily at the moment, but last night it was coming down hard. It’s supposed to pick up later and continue til the end of Sunday. This storm is giving me a cold so I didn’t even go to work today. With both the storm and this cold, I’m probably staying in all weekend. Me and some guys thought about doing paint ball on Sunday before this storm arrived. Pretty sure that’s not happening.

But with all the TFs I bought in November, staying in all weekend is not so bad. 🙂

  • Masterpiece Sideswipe, amiami.com, about $75 shipped

  • Generations GDO Hoist, Toys R Us, $5.99

  • Masterpiece Optimus Prime, toysrus.com, $119.99
  • Generations GDO Megatron, toysrus.com, $22.99
  • Generations GDO Powerdive, toysrus.com, $22.99

  • Transformers Prime Breakdown, eBay, $59.99 shipped

  • Generations Fall of Cybertron G2 Bruticus, Amazon, $59.99

  • Transformers Prime Thundertron, Target, $19.99
  • Transformers Prime Ultra Magnus, Target, $19.99

  • Generations GDO Hot Spot, Toys R Us, $22.99

That’s 14 TFs for the month: 2 MPs, 4 Generations GDO, 5 Generations FOC, and 3 TF Prime.

So far I opened only 5 of these: MP Sideswipe, Hoist, Megatron, Powerdive, and Ultra Magnus. Still plenty of TFs to open on this rainy weekend. And out of the 24 TFs I got last month, 2 are still unopened (the 2 Cliffjumpers).

I did a full review on MP Sideswipe here and here. Hoist I kind of reviewed here.

Normally I would write more thoughts about these TFs, but I’m sick and that medicine is kicking in. Need to go rest for now. Even Autobots need to spend time in the CR chamber every now and then.

Transform and Roll Out!

Categories: On The Hunt, Pics

Transformers Purchased in October 2012

October 31st, 2012 4 comments

When it rains, it pours. Like Cybertron Acid Rain! Or Hurricane Sandy. October was a downpour full of Transformers, I was finding newly released figures multiples times per week. This will be a long post. Prepare yourself.

  • Generations GDO Swerve, toysrus.com, $14.99
  • Generations GDO Springer, Toys R Us, $14.99
  • Generations GDO Wheelie, Toys R Us, $14.99
  • Generations GDO Cliffjumper, toysrus.com $14.99

  • Generations GDO Brawl, Toys R Us, $9.99
  • Generations GDO Laserbeak, toysrus.com $9.99

  • Transformers Prime Rumble, Walmart, $15.47

  • Transformers Prime Airachnid, Target, $15.49

  • Transformers Prime First Edition Terroron Cliffjumper, Toys R Us, $14.99
  • Transformers Prime First Edition Vehicon, Toys R Us, $14.99

  • Transformers Prime Voyager Dreadwing, Target, $21.99

  • Transformers Prime Kup, Walmart, $15.47
  • Transformers Prime Vehicon, Walmart, $15.47

  • Generations Fall of Cybertron Onslaught, hasbrotoyshop.com, $14.99
  • Generations Fall of Cybertron Blastoff, hasbrotoyshop.com, $14.99
  • Generations Fall of Cybertron Vortex, hasbrotoyshop.com, $14.99
  • Generations Fall of Cybertron Swindle, hasbrotoyshop.com, $14.99
  • Generations Fall of Cybertron Brawl, hasbrotoyshop.com, $14.99

  • Generations Ultimate Gift Set (Jazz, Combat Hero Optimus Prime, Motorbreath, Thundercracker), hasbrotoyshop.com, $29.99

  • Generations GDO legend Silverstreak, Toys R Us, $5.99
  • Generations GDO legend Thundercracker, Toys R Us, $5.99

Whew! That’s a lot of TFs! I knew October was gonna be special, when back in this post I said October is off to a great start. 24 TFs for the month. That’s gotta be a new single month record, even for me. 7 figures came out of TF Prime, and the other 17 all belong to Generations. And out of the 17 Generations, 5 are Fall of Cybertron, and the rest GDO. I guess this month more than makes up for the last few months, where I found virtually nothing in the stores.

Out of the 24 figs, 13 are repaints of molds I already have. Still, Hasbro made them different enough for me to want them. They sure know how to keep me interested.

Notice I bought the little legend GDO Thundercracker twice. First came with the Ultimate Gift set from hasbrotoyshop.com, and the second was a standalone purchase at Toys R Us. I guess I could’ve left the the 2nd one on the shelf, but these little guys are rare finds so I couldn’t help myself.

But yeah, so many TFs in such a short span. I’m barely able to process it all. The pic below shows the only figures that I opened so far. And believe me I plan to open them all (except for the 2nd Thundercracker).

I recommend all these figures that I opened. Well, maybe except for Airachnid. Her robot mode is pretty crappy. But the heli mode is cool and she is a rare fig, so there are still some reasons to get one.

Today is also Halloween. So I thought I do a shot of all my orange TFs with a stuff pumpkin that I have. Check it out below.

And speaking of orange, here’s a plug for a totally unrelated topic: San Francisco Giants are world champions! As a sports fan living in the SF Bay Area, it’s something I must mention. Their colors are orange and black, very fitting for Halloween. Coincidentally, the victory parade is also on this day. It will be crazy in the city! I wanted to take a pic of my orange TFs with some Giants memorabilia, but can’t find any. Earlier in the year I went to a Giants game, and I got a Brian Wilson gnome as a stadium give-away. I sold it on eBay for $50, which I’ve come to regret now for 3 reasons: 1) It’s a great piece to take a pic with my orange TFs, 2) Now that Giants are world champs, it’s probably worth way more than $50, and 3) It’s a great memento to keep around for a championship year. Though Brian Wilson has made no contribution to this championship run since he’s been hurt since May, so maybe it’s not a big deal.

Happy Halloween everyone! Transform and Roll Out!

Categories: On The Hunt, Pics

Amazon Exclusives Pre-Order Up Now!

July 13th, 2012 7 comments

Happy Friday the 13th! You might think you will be plagued by some bad luck and run into some freaky stuff, but the only horrors you can potentially experience today is if you don’t act quickly on these Amazon Exclusive TFs, and they run out!

G2 Bruticus

First up is a G2 redeco of the upcoming Fall of Cybertron Bruticus figure. This team of 5 Combatcions combines to form the mighty Bruticus.

Apparently there are three versions of this set. There is the standard mass retail set that I covered in this post. Then there is the San Diego Comic Con Exclusive G1 colored set. Now Amazon is offering a G2 colored set. Hasbro sure knows how to milk it. Long time readers know that I have repeatedly mentioned that the Combaticons are my favorite combiner group, both in this post and in this post. And for that reason alone, I’ll probably buy all 3 sets. Will Hasbro put out a 4th redeco? Wouldn’t surprise me.

Click here to order your G2 Bruticus from Amazon. Pre-order went up last Friday morning, then it stopped after a few hours. It finally went up again yesterday, which is when I got mine. Gets yours while they last!

Optimus Prime Jetwing Movie Deco

This is a redeco of a Optimus Prime figure that was previously only available in Japan. I think MSRP of the Japanese version was something in the range of $250. I thought of buying it then, but the price was too much of a turnoff. Glad I waited, since this is like half as cheap!

Many fans consider the Japanese version of this to be the best transformable Movie Optimus Prime figure made. I think the base figure is from the ROTF leader mold, but it’s modified slightly to accommodate the Jetwing. This redeco does look a little different from the Japanese version. Personally, I like the G1 blue stripes on the wings, but not sure if I’m feeling the gold and blue on the Jetwing guns. Still, the only other Jetwing OP I have is a tiny commander-sized figure. So I don’t mind finally getting a leader-sized one.

Get the Amazon Jetwing Optimus Prime here.

Get yours now before they’re gone! Transform and Roll Out!

Categories: On The Hunt, Pics, TF News

Generations Fall of Cybertron Deluxe Class Figures

May 6th, 2012 Comments off

I am a big fan of War For Cybertron. Later this year, perhaps around fall, the sequel Fall of Cybertron will be released. But what’s even better is that there will be figures from FOC! Just like WFC, figures from the sequel will be released in the Generations line.

The following pics are previews of all the deluxe figures planned for FOC. While we only got 5 figures from WFC (Optimus, Megatron, Bumblebee, Soundwave, Cliffjumper), we’re gonna get so much more for FOC! That’s right TransFans. Hasbro loves you. They’re even doing a combiner team that really combines! No release dates are given yet, but most likely the 1st wave will hit store shelves around the same time as the game. Fall of 2012 will be the Fall of Cybertron! Hey, that makes me wonder if there are seasons on Cybertron.

All pics are courtesy of the Transformers Facebook page.

Jazz

Optimus Prime

Shockwave

Blast Off

Brawl

Onslaught

Swindle

Vortex

Bruticus

Kickback

Starscream

Sideswipe

Ultra Magnus

Fireflight

Fireflight doesn’t look right to me. I think this figure makes a better Strafe, with that head mold, alt mode, and the colors. But I like Aerialbots too, so I can live with it.

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting all of them. Transform and Roll Out!

Categories: Pics, TF News

FansProject Combaticons: Crossfire 02 “Explorer” and “Munitioner”

June 8th, 2010 Comments off

2010 is looking to be a banner year for FansProject. Their next offering are two figures called Explorer and Munitioner. Hardcore G1 purists should instantly recognize them as Blastoff and Swindle, respectively.

Late in 2009, Hasbro released a Target exclusive Bruticus Maximus set under the ROTF line. This is a set of 5 Combaticon figures that will combine and form Bruticus Maximus. The toys are essentially a repaint of Energon Bruticus Maximus. Target retailed the set at $29.99. Some stores even sold them at clearance prices over the Holidays, I’ve seen with my own eyes the price dropped to either $24.99 or $19.99. Apparently they weren’t flying off the shelves if Target felt clearance was necessary. I did think about buying the set during that stretch, considering that the Combaticons are my favorite combiner group, something that I’ve mentioned repeated on this blog. However, being the G1 purist that I am, I decided against buying it because I felt the figure did not at all resemble the G1 Combaticons. And to make matters worse, not all molds in the set are distinct. Onslaught, the leader figure that forms the body, is a unique mold. However, Brawl and Blastoff are both tanks with identical molds, and Vortex and Swindle are of the same helicopter mold. This was a complete turnoff. There is also a similar set released under the Universe line (in slightly different colors). I’m not sure when it was released and if it was a store exclusive.

I should have known by now that whenever I complain about a certain aspect in TF figures, the people behind FansProject would have the same complaint. So right after Target sold out of the Bruticus Maximus set, FansProject announced the figures “Explorer” and “Munitioner”. Explorer is a space shuttle while Munitioner is a jeep. FansProject is not affiliated with Hasbro so it’s not like they can outright advertise what these figures are meant to be. But G1-ers immediately recognized them as Blastoff and Swindle, and the fact that only these 2 are produced is to properly give the ROTF Combaticons the right molds for these 2 characters. But yeah, right as I learned of this new development, I started to kick myself for not buying the ROTF Bruticus Maximus set.

FansProject have recently released more finalized pics of Explorer and Munitioner. The figures themselves look great and are obviously G1 inspired. But it also looks like the figures will come with accessories that will make Bruticus look more G1 as well. Words can’t even start to describe how kick-ass this set looks with the FansProject add-on. I’m posting a few select pics below. For all the pics check out this blog entry on the FansProject site.

You can bet your boron compressor that I will be buying Munitioner and Explorer when they are released. I would’ve done that anyway, but after I saw these pics, I knew I had to go track down the ROTF Bruticus Maximus set. Of course all dealers from every website I can think of would mark these up. Getting it at the clearance prices, or even at MSRP, was now extremely unlikely. And so last month I bit the bullet and bought the set from an ebay seller for about $50. This price was actually quite reasonable. I see many dealers ask for much more. I picked up the set at my local PO last weekend and below are some pics.

I won’t be opening this set until Explorer and Muntioner are released. Then I will give them all the proper review it deserves.

And since we’re on the subject of Combaticons, I want to take this opportunity to show off my G1 Combaticons. I still have them all to this day. Onslaught is getting loose in some of his joints, and there are obvious sticker wear to all 5 figures. But other than that they are all complete and in pretty good shape.

Sharp G1 observers will have noticed that Onslaught appears without his blue chest shield. I have the piece, I just forgot to put it on him when I took the pic.

I also have some repainted Combaticons from Robots in Disguise. Technically they’re not called Combaticons in RiD. They are called Commandos, and the names of all the characters have been changed. This is the Urban Camo set (I believe there is also a Desert Camo and a Snow Camo set). The combat trailer is Mega-Octane, the tank is Armorhide, the space shuttle is Movor, the jeep is Rollbar, the helicopter is Ro-Tor, and the combined form is Ruination. Pics appear below.

Let’s face it, all the combiners post G1 have been lame. Hasbro just doesn’t want to properly do one for some strange reason. So once again it’s FansProject to the rescue. I can’t wait for Explorer and Munitioner.

Combaticons… Transform and Roll Out!

Categories: Pics, TF News