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Posts Tagged ‘War For Cybertron Earthrise’

Happy St Patrick’s Day 2022! Seen in Green!

March 17th, 2022 Comments off

Welcome to another one of my special St Patrick’s Day posts! This is the time of year when I feature my green Transformers. I always try to look for green figures that I have not featured before. For 2022, I came up with the figures below, all from the War For Cybertron line.

This St Patrick’s Day feels quite different from the last time I did one of these, in 2020. COVID caught the United States by storm at that time, marking an unusual start to the decade to say the least. But we’re now in 2022. It’s debatable if we can say COVID is behind us, but life goes on.

Quick bits about each figure:

  • War For Cybertron Galactic Odyseey Lifeline – I call her the “Green Queen” of this bunch. She’s basically a WFC Earthrise Arcee repaint. Lifeline came packaged with WFC Ratchet in Earth mode. This was an Amazon exclusive, and the only way to get WFC Earth mode Ratchet. So yeah, Lifeline is a totally unnecessary repaint to get us G1 hardcore dummies to buy more figures. I love and hate Hasbro.
  • War For Cybertron Earthrise Allicon – This guy has got enough green on him to qualify for my St Patrick’s Day features. The fact this even got made as a toy is a treat for all G1-ers. The Allicon was another Quintesson foot soldier designed purely for the 1986 TF Movie without a toy origin. In the film, they love the energon goodies, but get seriously hangry when there are no more. The Allicon figure is not bad at all. It’s a fun figure to just pick up and play, transforming between a mechanical humanoid Alligator and robot.
  • War For Cybertron Earthrise Hoist – this character need no introduction. The WFC Earthrise figure is not bad. Good looking robot and alt modes. Not hard to transform and very G1 accurate.
  • War For Cybertron Kingdom Waspinator – Another terrific update to Waspinator. I need to dig out Generations Thrilling 30 Waspinator and compare him to this one. The two seems very similar, but I’m going purely by memory here.

On a separate note, St Patrick’s Day usually means March Madness. In 2020, the NCAA Tournament was cancelled. But in 2022 it’s alive and well. Can my UCLA repeat last year’s surprising appearance in the Final Four? Of course they can. They’re going all the way this year!

Happy St Patrick’s Day! Transform and Roll Out!

 

Categories: Pics

My Ramjet Collection

December 10th, 2021 Comments off

Today I proudly present my Ramjet collection. I could swear I have more Ramjets, but this appears to be it. I did sell one Ramjet, but that figure was built so poorly it does not deserve to be in my collection. Yes I only keep the best.

I have a thing for Ramjet. The simplicity and stupidity of his attacks – very appealing. I would consider myself fortunate if I could solve all my problems like Ramjet. I’m not sure who would be my favorite Seeker. It’s either Starscream, Skywarp, or Ramjet.

From left to right: ToyWorld Combuster, Classics Ramjet, War For Cybertron Earthrise Ramjet

Some quick bits about each of these figs, in the order released.

Classics Ramjet

Classics Ramjet was released pretty early in the era of modernizing classic G1 characters, I think in either 2006 or 2007. Classics Starscream was released as part of the first wave of Classics, so we knew the Coneheads wouldn’t be far behind. Ramjet was the only one released in mass retail as part of Classics in the United States. For Dirge and Thrust, you had to either get them imported as part of Henkei, or wait for the later Generations line.

Classics Ramjet is still a fun figure today to pick up and play, but it is a dated figure for sure. Even for a CHUG fig, the robot mode has its limitations by today’s standards. There’s no waist swivel or ankle tilt. The arms seem a bit short as they don’t extend at all from jet to robot mode. The wings on the legs cannot fold back, so they are stuck extending straight outward.

As dated as this figure is, I still recommend getting one today if you can find one at reasonable price. The jet mode still holds up well. The figure is well constructed. Mine is still in very good shape despite an adequate amount of play. This Ramjet figure is a good first attempt at a modern day Conehead Seeker. And in the halls of TF history, the figure is a good representation of where we were and where we’ve been. This figure paved the way for better Conehead Seekers today.

ToyWorld Combuster

I kind of already summarized my thoughts about the ToyWorld Seekers back in this post. ToyWorld Assault (Thrust) was given more treatment here, and ToyWorld Requiem (Dirge) here. Today is Combuster’s turn. In short, I like Combuster way more than the official MP Ramjet.

Looking at Combuster now in 2021, it’s becoming a bit dated. The jet mode is still great, but the robot mode is beginning the show its age when compared with recent offerings of what a MP style jet robot could potentially be. I don’t have MP-52 Starscream, but I’ve seen enough pics, watched enough reviews, and have friends verbally confirm that the robot mode is out-of-this-world awesome. Looking at pics of MP-52, then looking at pics of Combuster, it’s clear who is a toy and who is the superior physical manifestation of a show character.

But don’t get me wrong. Combuster was a great 3P MP Ramjet for its time, and is still a solid transforming figure today. The jet mode is awesome and scales well with official MPs. The robot mode is a tad tall, which is perhaps the only real weakness in this mode. Combuster sports super solid construction backed by quality materials. The paint job is superb. Transformation is fun and intuitive. Complex enough to be MP, but definitely not frustrating. I don’t know if I would get one today, considering that HasTak would probably take the MP-52 mold and reformat that into Conehead Seekers. But as of this very moment, Combuster is still in my opinion the best MP Ramjet on the market.

WFC Earthrise Ramjet

My newest Ramjet figure is the one from War From Cybertron Earthrise. This was released in 2020 as an Amazon exclusive 2-pack with Dirge. And if you missed out on this 2-pack, it sucks to be you. As of this writing, this 2-pack goes for $219.99! Yikes. MSRP was $59.99. It’s only been about 18 months since release. I guess they seriously didn’t make enough, or damn scalpers are at it yet again. And in case you’re wondering, Thurst was a Target exclusive. And now that I think about it, Thundercracker and Skywarp was also a Target exclusive 2-pack. I’m conflicted about all these exclusivity deals that Hasbro is making. On one hand I’m glad they’re released, but on the other it’s like you have to be on top of releases or you’ll miss out. First world problems at its best.

But back to this Ramjet figure. This is by far the best and most G1 accurate Ramjet that HasTak has came up with. The overall mold is a re-work off of WFC Siege Starscream. When that fig came out, we all knew HasTak would repaint this at least 5 more times, one for each G1 Seeker. And they really made it happen. This figure is highly similar to the Classics Seeker mold, in that overall transformation feels identical. But many improvements are made to modernize the figure. For starters, it’s Voyager size, the size that Seekers should have always been. Ankle tilt has been added, for better stability in A-stance. The arms now have an extension mechanism, from jet to robot mode. Wings on the legs can how fold back. Yes all my gripes about the Classics Ramjet has been addressed. I think HasTak planned for all these repaints when they designed Starscream, because the mechanical differences in Ramjet feels fluid and not tacked on. My only gripe now is the weapons. WFC Ramjet still comes with the same null-ray blasters mold that Starscream has. He should have something that more resemble cruise missiles. I was expecting a 3rd party accessory company to do this (like Dr. Wu Customs perhaps). Maybe someone did, I’m not sure.

I totally recommend this figure. But I wouldn’t pay the scalping prices. My hunch is Hasbro would re-release this for a general release at some point. Wait for that.

“If it flies, crash it!” Wiser words have never been said. Maybe except this… Transform and Roll Out!
 

Categories: On The Hunt, Pics

Arcee Riding Wreck-Gar

November 21st, 2021 Comments off

The title post says it all. This is War For Cybertron Earthrise Arcee riding Studio Series 86 Wreck-Gar. It sorta works. Check it out.

Would Arcee prefer to ride someone else? You tell me.

Ride or die. Transform and Roll Out.
 

Categories: Pics

Who Wore It Better? CHUG 2015 vs CHUG 2021 Season 3 Autobots

November 7th, 2021 Comments off

CHUG 2015 Lineup
Pic taken from Generations Season 3 Autobots.

CHUG 2021 Lineup

 
Who wore it better? You decide.

Transform and Roll Out!

 

Categories: Pics

Who Wore It Better? CHUG vs 3P MP Autobots

September 27th, 2021 Comments off

CHUG Lineup

  • War For Cybertron Earthrise Optimus Prime
  • Studio Series 86 Grimlock
  • Studio Series 86 Jazz
  • War For Cybertron Kingdom Warpath
  • War For Cybertron Earthrise Trailbreaker

 

3P MP Lineup

 

Who wore it better? You decide.

Transform and Roll Out!
 

Categories: Pics

Decepticon Air Superiority, 2021 !

May 17th, 2021 Comments off

I haven’t posted anything in so long. This blog seriously needs some love, so I’m doing one today. And once again, a bunch of random Decepticon jets are lying about here and there. Which means it’s time for another Decepticon Air Superiority post!

Prior such posts in years past:
2012
2017

Here are the jets to give the Autobots nightmares in 2021.

All 5 jets come from different TF toylines. In order of release:

  • Dreadwing is from Transformers Prime Beast Hunters
  • Armada Starscream is from Generations Thrilling 30
  • Snapdragon is from War From Cybertron: Earthrise
  • Cyclonus is from War From Cybertron: Kingdom
  • Scourge is from Studio Series 86

In terms of continuity, Cyclonus and Scourge are obviously related in G1, with Snapdragon appearing with them a season later in the US continuity. Armada Starscream and Dreadwing are on their own.

As for the toys, Armada Starscream and Dreadwing are fairly outdated by today’s standards. These are still good mass-retail deluxe figs to pick up and play with. They present no challenge transformation-wise, and both figs look decent in both modes.

In my last post I reviewed Kingzilla, a 3rd party MP homage to Snapdraon. Here we have the official CHUG version of the same character released in the WFC Earthrise line. And just like Kingzilla, I like WFC Earthrise Snapdragon quite a bit. This is a fun figure, easy to transform between the 3 modes. Not only that, all 3 modes look fantastic. This is not an easy feat by any means for a Triple Changer. Of course the Headmaster gimmick is still in place. Krunk functions as the head for both robot and dragon, and he can sit in the cockpit in jet mode. G1 purists may whine over the minor alteration in transformation scheme, in that the jet nosecone become part of the legs instead of being on the robot’s back. Personally I don’t see it as a big deal.

The 2 newest figure here are Cyclonus and Scourge. I acquired them both in 2021. It’s unclear to me why the 2 figs are released in separate toylines. Cyclonus could have easily been released as part of Studio Series 86 as well. Perhaps he has an appearance in Kingdom, the upcoming final chapter of War For Cybertron.

WFC Kingdom Cyclonus is hands down the best Cyclonus that has ever been made. This one easily tops my other Cyclonus figures, such as the one from Generations or Combiner Wars. WFC Cyclonus looks great in both modes. The jet mode is nice and sleek, while the robot mode is proportionate and toon-accurate. Transformation is pure joy. For a mass produced toy, the transformation difficulty is above average yet very satisfying. There are enough steps to fully qualify this piece as geared towards collectors, but at the same time the whole process is intuitive and ingenious. The jet nosecone transformation deserves special mention. The entire unit folds and compacts into itself that it’s the perfect way for Cyclonus to go from alt to robot. Construction of the figure is superb as well. Cyclonus gets the highest recommendation from me.

Studio Series 86 Scourge is a terrific addition as well. I don’t think he’s as good as Cyclonus, but this is also without a doubt the best Scourge figure made to date. Both modes look good. The robot mode is toon-accurate, while the alt mode replicates that boat-looking space craft that he’s supposed to be. The transformation is tweaked a bit from G1 so that SS86 Scourge is not as much a shell-former. It does take some work to align all panels of the alt mode, but it can be done with just a bit of effort. In alt mode, SS86 Scourge can be configured with his head exposed above the space craft, something we often he him do in the G1 cartoons and Movie. Hardcore G1-ers will probably multiples of this figure to create a Sweep army. This makes even more sense if some 3P will create a head for the Sweeps (basically Scourge minus the mustache).

So who’s leading this bunch? Other than Snapdragon, all the others have a claim to Decepticon leadership. Though individually, Snapdragon may be the most powerful.

Transform and Roll Out.
 

Categories: Pics