March of 2019 is Siege Month! All figures except for one (and one accessory) are from War From Cybertron: Siege.

• War For Cybertron Siege Starscream, Walmart, $29.84

• War For Cybertron Siege Soundwave, Walmart, $29.84

• War For Cybertron Siege Ultra Magnus and Shockwave, bbts.com, $99.99

• War For Cybertron Siege Chromia, Target, $19.99

• War For Cybertron Siege Prowl, amazon.com, $19.99

• Warbotron WB03-D Double Strike, bbts.com, $51.99

• Fans Toys FT-08 Grinder Dinohead, bbts.com, $17.99

Starscream

First up in this WFC Siege month is none other than Starscream. And here we have something truly special! Ladies and gents, for the first time in TF history, HasTak has given us Seekers that transform into their Cybertronian alt mode from the very first G1 episode! We all know how that first episode started. Bumblebee and Wheeljack was looking for some energy conductors. On the way back to Iacon, they were intercepted by Seekers of various colors. The Seekers transformed into what fans dub as tetra-jets, and the chase was on!

The tetra-jet is something completely imagined by the show animators, in that this was the Cybertronian alt mode of robot toys that transformed into F-15s. Of course the transformation sequence from robot to tetra-jet was entirely made up and don’t make much mechanical sense. But as fans we accepted the show’s creativity, and welcomed the fact that Cybertronian robots would not have Earth alt modes when they were on Cybertron. The toys’ alt modes were all Earth in origin, and in the 80s it was never conceived that there would be toys that transform into a mode made up by the cartoon artists.

Fast forward 35 years, and HasTak has made a transforming tetra-jet to robot figure a reality! Having this Voyager-sized Starscream as a tetra-jet is something magnificent to behold. The design of the tetra-jet is slightly modified for the War For Cybertron show, but it still heavily resembles the G1 tetra-jet. The overall triangular scheme is clearly seen. What impresses me most about this figure is how the designers are able to take various design bits of the robot mode and have them transform into mechanical elements of the tetra-jet that makes sense. For example, the side shoulder protrusions of the standard Seekers (formed from the front intake of the F-15) comes together and forms the tip of the tetra-jet. And the circular chest design bits in robot mode forms part of the rear thrusters. The toy designers thought through this transformation, and it shows.

In alt mode, Starscream looks great in his standard grey with bits of blue and red. The tetra-jet is a bit bulky at the bottom where the legs go. But the rest of jet mode is a sleek representation of a Seeker dominance vehicle in the Cybertroian skies. Cockpit of Starscream’s tetra-jet is still orange, though why a Cybertronian jet would need a cockpit is anyone’s guess. Guns are attached under the wings. The alt mode is a solid and cohesive whole with no loose or dangling parts.

In robot mode, the figure heavily resembles the look of the classic Seeker that we all know. This is a spectacular achievement by the HasTak toy design team. This robot mode could easily pass for the robot mode of a classic Earth-style Starscream. This resemblance lends credence to the fact that this is the same character on Cybertron, with a Cybertronian alt mode, and later transcanned to have an Earth alt mode. The cockpit down the center chest area is “fake”, in that the module is purely decorative and doesn’t transform into the cockpit of the jet. All other pieces serve a mechanical purpose.

Construction of the figure is also superb. All joints are at the right tolerance. Pieces come together when they should, and separate when they need to. All in all this is a great figure. G1 fans will undoubtedly not pass this up. I give the figure the highest possible recommendation.

Soundwave

Next up in the WFC Siege lineup is Soundwave. This is another character where I was really looking forward to what HasTak would come up with as the origin Cybertronian interpretation.

I’ll start with the alt mode of WFC Siege Soundwave. I was really hoping this origin alt mode would be that statue looking thing that we saw Soundwave transform into in the very first G1 episode. Unfortunately, that is not the case. HasTak chose to go with something more utilitarian for WFC Seige Soundwave in that he transforms into a Cybertronian aircraft. It’s a bit of a bummer, in that I think they could have easily made a Soundwave figure that is able to transform into the statue/lamppost/highway-callbox thing. And I could be wrong here, but I don’t think Soundwave ever transformed in the WFC show. So this flying alt mode doesn’t do all that much for me. But this what we got. It is what it is.

The alt mode looks ok. It’s a Cybertronian form, so the toy designers could fancy this into any appearance they like. If you imagine how Soundwave would look as a jet based on how he looks in robot mode, it probably would not be too far off from the alt mode of WFC Siege Soundwave. The overall shape is very blocky. The tape deck area in robot mode forms the very back of the vehicle. Two wing/thruster bits that I assume are Cybertronian jet thrusters protrude at an angle, and these are the only major bits not found on Earth mode Soundwave. Overall I’m not too crazy about this alt mode. It feels very retroactively forced on a robot design that was not meant to be a starship.

As for the robot mode, it’s classic Soundwave. The blue and grey colors, overall rectangular proportions, the well-known head design, and the iconic chest tape deck, it’s all there. The colors and shape of the arms and legs look like it’s straight out of G1. The battery-formed shoulder cannon mounted on his right is there as well. All other cassette player bits, on the crotch and legs, are all present and accounted for. The only big difference from the Earth form in robot mode is the back, in that the previously mentioned Cybertronian jet thrusters are placed there. But for a robot mode that has to account for flying apparatus bits, that’s where I would expect them to go. The tape deck ejection mechanism works fine and well. In later months I would purchase his infamous cassette minions (released as Master-sized figures in WFC) and they can be placed inside.

As for weapons, WFC Siege Soundwave comes with his twin iconic battery-shaped modules. In robot mode, one becomes a cannon mounted on his right shoulder, and the other one transforms into a hand-held blaster. Also included is another rifle. This weapon can be unfolded to look like a sniper rifle, or folded to look like another hand-held blaster.

And just like Starscream, I find no issues with the construction of the figure. Despite not having an alt mode that I had hoped for, Soundwave still gets a recommendation.

Ultra Magnus

Ultra Magnus and Shockwave were purchased together as one order item. That’s how they sold it. No discounts were offered when bought this way. It is now Dec 2021, and on Amazon you can still get them both at slightly below regular price. I know I have seen both of these in the $30 range, in 2020. TF prices are like stocks. You never know how they will go.

Ultra Magnus is a terrific update. This character was given a great treatment in Combiner Wars. WFC continues that trend and makes even more improvements on everybody’s favorite City Commander. In alt mode, instead of being a car carrier, Siege Ultra Magnus looks like some kind of Cybertronian armor weapon vehicle. It looks close enough to his Earth alt mode, but at the same time different enough to not simply be an Earth-mode derived mode. While we’re on that topic, Ultra Magnus’ alt mode always looked a bit Cybertronian, even in G1. The front cab looks Earth mode enough, but the trailer section is definitely Cybertronian. So is it possible he only partially transcanned? It’s worth exploring.

Siege Ultra Magnus feels very solid in alt mode. The unit feels like one cohesive whole, despite the entire mode being puzzle-formed together like Ultra Magnus typically is in this mode. 5 weapons are attached in this mode for a very impressive look: 2 black blasters, 2 white missile launchers with red missiles that he’s had since G1, and a large silver rifle, all mounted and ready to intimidate some lowly Decepticon scum. The whole thing rides on a total of 10 wheels, and the unit does sit well on a flat surface. The colors are distinctly Ultra Magnus, with the cab white, the trailer blue, and top section red. The shape of the front cab is distinctly Cybertronian. All in all a very nice alt mode.

In G1, Ultra Magnus had 2 robot modes. There was the smaller robot transformed solely from the cab, a white repaint of the famous G1 Optimus Prime toy. This smaller robot was never seen on-screen in G1. Then there’s the bigger robot formed from both the cab and trailer, the appearance that we’re all familiar with from the cartoons. Siege Ultra Magnus faithfully reproduces this scheme. The cab is capable of forming a smaller robot resembling Optimus Prime. (sidebar: part of this Ultra Magnus mold would indeed be reformatted into WFC Siege Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime, to be released later, but that’s for another day) In this mode, Ultra Magus is well-proportioned. Joints are at the right tolerances. For a blocky figure, the articulation is adequate. Transformation from cab to this robot mode is nothing we haven’t seen before. But this tried and true formula works for this character, and I’m never a proponent of messing with what works. I’m happy this mode is included, but we didn’t pay the $50 price tag to have Ultra Magnus in this mode.

To get Ultra Magnus into the robot mode that we all know and love, the trailer disassembles and acts as armor over and on top of the smaller robot mode. 3Ps have implemented such a mechanism already, most notably the FansProject City Commander Add-On Set. HasTak has explored this scheme too, with Evolution Optimus Prime and Rodimus Prime. I believe this is the first time that HasTak has done this for Ultra Magnus. In G1, the trailer isn’t really so much an armor for the cab. The trailer gets transformed into the main body, and then the cab gets attached to it behind the back. All other Ultra Magnus figures in the modern day kind of has the cab and trailer transform as one. So it is indeed a nice treat to see that WFC Siege implemented an armor attachment mechanism for the smaller cab robot to fully form Ultra Magnus.

And what a glorious robot mode this is. Fully armored up, Ultra Magnus is every bit his G1 self. There is no mistaking this character for any other. His entire design aesthetic, down the to the last detail, is based on G1. The colors, the overall blocky shape, the shoulder missiles, all G1 derived. Design of the chest, arms, legs, and head, all taken from G1. With this robot mode, it’s clear that there was very much an Ultra Magnus on Cybertron before coming to Earth. Transformation to this mode is very much a puzzle forming adventure, but you kinda expect that with this character. It’s fairly obvious where each armor piece should go, and the entire package comes together really well. Articulation in the mode suffers a bit because he’s so blocky, but what’s offered is sufficient.

I give this Ultra Magnus figure the highest possible recommendation. Yes by now we all know how he ends up in the Netflix War For Cybertron series, but don’t let that discourage you. And maybe you expected a $50 figure to be true leader size. Don’t let that discourage you either. The figure is made to scale nicely with other cast members from WFC. The cost of admission for this figure is paid in full with the number of modes and accessories. He can deal with that now. I know you can.

Shockwave

Shockwave is another character that got a great update in WFC Siege. He is also leader class. Or more accurately, he is sold as leader class. There is the core figure of Shockwave, which is voyager class size. Then there are the accessories that can be added on top of the core figure, in both robot and alt mode. All this in one package is how Hasbro justifies the $50 price tag.

Let’s take a look at the core figure first. In robot mode, Shockwave is every bit his G1 self. All the classic iconic features of Shockwave are present, from the purple colors, the left-arm blaster, the left-arm hose attached to his backpack, the his cyclops eye. At voyager class, he scales well with other Decepticons in WFC Siege. The figure is well built, no joints too loose or too tight. Ample articulation points gives the figure some great poseability, and solid engineering means he can actually hold those poses. Transformation to alt mode follows the standard Shockwave scheme, with some modern variations. Some aspects of the transformation seems borrowed from both Fans Toys Quakewave and MP-29 Shockwave, but on a CHUG figure the overall scheme is way more playable. WFC Siege Shockwave still transforms into the iconic space gun that we all know and love, and it’s good see HasTak did not butcher this into something different (like a Cyberverse Shockwave, the Fall of Cybertron Shockwave, or the Alternator Shockwave).

Now on to the accessories. In robot mode, the accessories can be attached in a number of different ways. But the default configuration is some large flat gun pieces added onto the bottom of the feet, some wing and gun pieces that are attached to the shoulders, and a backpack cover. Shockwave looks quite menacing in this mode, and the overall feel does reflect a mad scientist that decided to perform Frankenstein-ish experiments on himself. In the space gun mode, the extra accessories are attached so Shockwave looks more like a genuine Cybertronian jet. It does look cool, and give more credence to the fact that Shockwave can fly around in alt mode.

So do I recommend this figure? The short answer is yes. The core Shockwave figure without the accessories is a terrific modern day CHUG update of the Decepticon mad scientist. This is probably the first real update of Shockwave in CHUG, and the core figure does not disappoint in any way. Now for the long answer. The extra accessories are kind of unnecessary, in my opinion. They’re cool, but don’t really add that much to the character. In fact, I think it sort of turns Shockwave into a different character, one that wasn’t explored very much in the G1 cartoons or the WFC Netflix series. And speaking of the WFC series, we never saw Shockwave in any of these enhanced modes. It feels like HasTak made these extra things to justify Shockwave being a $50 figure. I would have much rather they released a $30 figure of just the core Shockwave minus all the extras. But like I said already, this is the ultimate CHUG Shockwave that has been produced. So if you want one, you have to buy it with all the extra baggage. And as of this writing, I will emphasize again that you can buy this for less than MSRP on Amazon. Logic dictates you buy this now if you haven’t already.

Chromia

Here we have another rework off of the now famous Fembot deluxe mold. We got Moonracer and Novastar in Power of the Primes, so it’s no surprise that we would get Chromia in WFC Siege. Personally, I would have been ok if they didn’t make WFC Siege Chromia. I would have simply used Thrilling 30 Chromia to complete the Fembots. I think I like Thrilling 30 Chromia better anyways, if only for the variety.

WFC Siege Chromia is a rework because it’s not an exact repaint. The head mold is different. She gets different weapons. Chromia gets something that more resembles a sniper rifle, and we saw her use this several times in the WFC Siege show. Some pieces in alt mode are molded differently too. Chromia gets back pieces that covers the rear wheels, the cockpit piece clearly looks different, and she gets 4 molded-on front headlights. I commend HasTak for providing these variations to the same mold, to counter what would otherwise be a quick cash-grab. WFC Siege Chromia does not come with that Combiner Wars attachment.

G1 purists will undoubtedly get this Chromia to complete all 4 of the original Fembots (along with this Elita-1 or the upcoming Netflix Elita-1). For everyone else, this Chromia is an optional purchase if you already have Moonracer or Novastar. But buy this rework if you want. No judging here.

Prowl

WFC Siege Prowl follows that “Prowl” formula that all TransFans since G1 have come to memorize by heart. By “Prowl” formula, I mean that the transformation is tried and true for this character, the figure is deluxe size, Prowl colors of black and white are used, the alt mode is a police sports car of some sort, and HasTak will undoubtedly repaint this mold into Bluestreak and Smokescreen. WFC Siege Prowl certainly offers no deviation from this formula, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

WFC Siege Prowl is deluxe size, as you would expect. The alt mode, while Cybertronian, doesn’t offer much originality when compared to his Earth alt mode of a Nissan Z throughout the different decades. In fact, if you told me that this alt mode is a concept Nissan Z, I would have believed it. The writing of “POLICE” that are usually on Prowl’s doors are now replaced with Cybertronian font. The wheels are clear instead of black. The police sirens on the car’s roof is found here as well, but they look at bit too Earth mode if you ask me. The alt mode comes together well as one cohesive whole. All in all, a solid alt mode, but not much originality in that this is supposed to be in Cybertronian form.

Transformation is classic Prowl so I won’t describe it too much. Car hood becomes the chest, arms come out from the sides, rotation at the waist, car back becomes the legs and feet, car doors swing out to form the wings. You’ve seen this script many times.

In robot mode, WFC Siege Prowl is iconic Prowl. No one would mistake this bot mode for any other. I really don’t have much to say about the robot mode, because this is Prowl through and through. That’s a good thing, as this Prowl is supposed to represent the G1 version of this character on Cybertron. This figure does not come with shoulder rockets, and that’s a shame, probably the only aspect that make this less Prowl than usual. The roof sirens in alt mode can be detached and placed on his rifle, or be attached to his forearms to be used as a shield.

If you collect the WFC Siege line, you will undoubtedly buy Prowl regardless of what I say. He’s an iconic G1 character that no true G1-er would pass up. The WFC Siege version does Prowl very well, in that it’s G1 in all the right ways. The only critique I can offer here is that it may be too G1. The alt mode looks too close to what he would be on Earth, and I just can’t imagine Cybertronian vehicles resembling Earth vehicles that much. But as far as having a CHUG Cybertronian Prowl, this fits the bill.

Double Strike

Warbotron Double Strike got a dedicated review already, so go check out that post for all the details. Double Strike is Warbotron’s homage to Strafe from the Technobots. In short, this is a good figure, but not as good as Turbo Ejector (Afterburner).

As of this writing, Double Strike and Turbo Ejector are the only Warbotron Technobots I have. I really want to get the rest. I was overall not terribly impressed with MakeToys Quantron, so I sold that set and re-invested in the Warbotron set. I never got the official Combiner War Technobots set, just Scattershot by his lonesome. That is bizarre, considering how much I love the Technobots. Perhaps another 3P will attempt the Technobots. Would Fans Toys be brave enough to do this? Let’s hope so.

Grinder Dinohead

The last item featured this month is an accessory for Grinder. More specifically, this alternate dino head replaces the default dino head that comes with Grinder. I have mentioned repeatedly on this blog that I feel Grinder’s T-Rex mode make me think of Barney. The problem is the head. Fans Toys has heard your complaints and released this alternate Dino head.

In short, this head is much, much better. I didn’t really look at what is changed on this head, but it certainly doesn’t make me think of Barney anymore when I see Grinder in T-Rex mode. See for yourself. With the alternate head attached, Grinder resembles Grimlock from the G1 movie much more closely. This accessory piece goes for $17.99. At this price, every Grinder owner should get this. However I have seen this marked up to about $100, in this era of global shortages of just about everything. Fans Toys items always gets marked up these days, but this is just crazy! I can’t say if FT will make more of these, but I personally would not pay $100 to get one.

More TFs are to come in the months that follow. This is my last post for 2021. Happy New Year! Transform and Roll Out!
 

EDIT 2021/12/30:

I later found that I took some pics of all the Siege TFs this month. Here they are. Enjoy!

I recently acquired Double Strike. This is Warbotron’s MP interpretation of Technobot Strafe. Since I did a review on Turbo Ejector (Afterburner), I’m gonna do a review on Double Strike as well.

I got Double Strike at a sale price of $51.99 (MSRP is $95.99). That’s almost half off! Since I was so impressed with Turbo Ejector, I had to get Double Strike to check it out for myself. Is he as good as Turbo Ejector? Let’s find out.

We will start with the box.

Double Strike is packed in the same kind of box as Turbo Ejector. And that’s a good thing, because these boxes are so high quality. They are composed of hard cardboard, and there’s a tab on the side for easy pull out. I didn’t include the outer box wrap in the pic above, but Double Strike has one too.

Box flap opens to reveal another good artwork.

In the packaging.

Double Strike is about the same height as Turbo Ejector. That makes sense as they both form the arms. I think Double Strike weighs a bit less than Turbo Ejector, but not my much. The figure is solid, with a nice hefty feel for a toy of this size.

Pic of lower back and legs. Notice how well the wings compact onto the back of the legs.

Ready for battle.

Another action pose.

Close up of the face. Decent sculpt with awesome light-piping.

Watch me balance on 1 leg!

Just like Turbo Ejector, Double Strike is well built. All joints are nice and tight, and some are clicky too. I detect no tolerance issues. All weapons fit where they are supposed to without it being too loose or too tight.

Transformation to jet mode is super straight forward. Just like Turbo Ejector, Double Strike follows the same overall scheme of his G1 predecessor. If you read the instructions, it will seem like the transformation is more complicated than it really is. I suggest just going straight in without looking at the instructions. Anyone familiar with Transformers in general shouldn’t have any problems.

The arms go up and over the back, and sits on top of the jet alt mode, instead of on the sides like G1. Waist rotation is required. Snap legs together and push in toward the waist. Unfold the wings. There is a back assembly with missile that stretched down and pegs in. Attach twin guns at front of the shoulder. That’s about it.

Pics of the jet mode below. It looks good and resembles G1 Strafe quite well. No TransFan will mistake this jet for anyone else.

View from the side.

View directly from the front.

View directly from the back.

Bottom view.

Rear landing gears don’t retract. The front landing gears can be rotated up, but they are still visible from the side. In the pic above, I got one front landing rotated up, and one left out.

An alternate wing configuration is in the pic below. This is actually the official Warbotron configuration. But I prefer a more G1 look, so in all other pics I had the wings configured more like G1.

The missile launcher on top of the jet deserves its 15 minutes. This thing shoots far! Be careful when firing. You’ll shoot your eye out, or worse yet, lose the missile.

Overall, I recommend Double Strike. I don’t think he’s as good as Turbo Ejector, but he’s still another solid addition to the Warbotron Technobot team.

Will I get the rest of the team? Only time will tell. Transform and Roll Out.
 

There was no shortage of purchases in April of 2017. Figures from every TF line of the time was represented this month, including Titans Return, Robots in Disguise, and for the first time, The Last Knight. Even third party products were not left out. Some of these figures are pretty darn good. And some of them, not so much. If you just want to get to my final thoughts about a figure, scroll down to the bottom of the post.

There’s a lot to get through, so let’s get to it.

• Robots in Disguise Soundwave, Walmart, $14.97

• Robots in Disguise Blurr, Walmart, $14.97

• The Last Knight Barricade, Walmart, $15.83

• Titans Return Broadside, Target, $24.99

• Titans Return Sky Shadow, Target, $40.99

• Titans Return Bumblebee, Kickback, Gnaw, tfsource.com, $32.99

• Keiths Fantasy Club E-Nergeon Cubes, tfsource.com, $9.99

• FansProject Function-XV MADLAW, tfsource.com, $39.99

• Warbotron WB03-A Turbo Ejector, tfsource.com, $79.99

Soundwave and Blurr

The two Robots in Disguise figures this month are Soundwave and Blurr. I found these two very early in the month.

I could never get enough Soundwave figures. I love the character, and I’m pleased he has a figure in the RiD line (though I don’t watch the show so I don’t know if he makes an appearance). RiD Soundwave takes design cues from many previous incarnations of the character. In robot mode, he’s got the iconic Soundwave colors and right-shoulder mounted cannon. Overall body shape takes design aesthetics from War For Cybertron Soundwave, and the head mold is an obvious homage of Transformers Prime Soundwave. I dig Soundwave’s overall appearance in robot mode. The red featureless face is a good fit for the character, and works well as a light piping feature. The figure is capable of some good poses in robot form, though most of it is achieved through cheap plastic ball joints. Transformation of RiD Soundwave is not difficult by any means. But unless you do it all time, there are some minor twists to an overall familiar motif that could have you very slightly stumped during the process. I don’t transform the figure that much, and every time I do it, I find myself asking silently, “How do I do that again?” RiD Soundwave’s alt mode is most certainly taken from War For Cybertron. But that’s not a bad thing. The Cybertronian car/SUV works well for the character. In my opinion, there are not that many good figures from Robots in Disguise, but Soundwave is one of them. This is a recommended figure. Get it.

Let’s look at Blurr next. The figure features the iconic Blurr colors that we have grown accustomed to. His head mold is an unique take on Blurr. It looks like he’s wearing a helmet with a visor, something Blurr would use if he was a human race car driver. I dunno, I think it’s design gimmicks like these that turns me off on Robots in Disguise. The show heavily attempts to humanize every Transformer, and I think they’re forgetting that they’re robots, not humans. Blurr is super easy to transform, just like every other figure in the RiD line. His transformation motif features nothing that we haven’t seen before. Arms to the sides, snap the legs together, and fold the back assembly over to the top of the vehicle. Flip in the feet pieces and line up the spoilers. That pretty much describes the entire transformation. It’s painfully simple, even by RiD standards. Granted, the alt mode does look cool. This futuristic race car reminds of me Crasher from the GoBots. I bet a customizer has already made a Crasher using this figure. Blurr’s weapon is in a translucent blue, and it comes with 2 pegs so you can position the weapon in two different orientations. All in all, this is not a bad figure, but offers nothing new for the mature collector.

Barricade

I am pleased to introduce my very first figure from The Last Knight: Barricade. There has been many deluxe movie Barricades made, and none of them are that good. I have the very first Barricade, from the 1st movie, as part of “First Encounter” 2 pack. And I have deluxe Barricade from Dark of the Moon. DotM Barricade is slightly better than the first Barricade, but neither one set the world on fire.

Hasbro used the term “Premier Edition” to label TLK toys that are more geared towards collectors, kind of like how Age of Extinction used the “Generations” banner. I started seeing the Premier Edition figs at Walmart in early April. Right away I liked the packaging. Even for the deluxe size figs, they are packed in boxes and not on cardboard. That’s always a plus in my book. In addition to Barricade, there was Bumblebee, Berserker, and Slash in the first wave of Premier Edition deluxe figs. I’m pretty sure Bumblebee and Slash are repaints from AoE. Berserker didn’t look all that interesting. That only leaves Barricade. Out of these 4, he does look the best in the box. And since I was never satisfied with the previous Barricades, I was really hoping this figure would be better. So I left the store with only Barricade.

I’m gonna go over the alt mode first. Barricade’s police car paint job is quite good. This Barricade is more of a dark blue, and not black. The Decepticon logo and the “POLICE” markings are painted very sharply on both sides. Front headlights and the police siren lights on the grill are also nicely painted. Same goes for the rear brake lights. This Barricade still has the phrase “To Punish and Enslave” written in cursive right above the rear wheels, and this application looks better than ever. What I find most impressive about this alt mode is that it’s got room for all his accessories. There are peg holes for the pistol and the night stick underneath the vehicle. And with those attached, there is still plenty of clearance for the police car to roll well on a flat surface. But what’s really impressive is how the arm cannon is placed in alt mode. The round arm cannon fold apart to form 2 semi-circles, and in this form the cannon is pegged in on the rear windshield. It’s a very cool effect and I commend Hasbro for this design. Barricade feels cohesive in this mode, nothing dangling or flopping around. If I was only judging this by alt mode, this is the best Barricade ever made.

Transformation to robot mode is pretty simple. That seems to be the trend for movie figures these days, even the ones made for collectors. It’s nothing we haven’t seen from the movie line, so I won’t describe it too much. In robot mode, Barricade looks ok, not great. I feel that his proportions are off. The legs appear a bit short in my opinion, giving more of a stocky look. The big weakness of the robot mode is that there is way too much back kibble. The roof of the car is draped over almost the entire back side. In fact, the roof of the car accounts for about 70% of the height in robot mode. It’s not AoE Crosshairs bad, but pretty close. Articulation is decent for a fig in this class, though I gotta point out there is no waist articulation and the head only moves from side to side, not up and down. The pistol and nightstick can be held in either hand. The same peg holes for their storage in alt mode is now positioned to the side of the thighs, so he can store them there in bot mode for kind of a cool look. The arm cannon can be wrapped around either arm. In my opinion, the robot mode is mediocre at best.

So should you get Barricade? I do feel this is the best Barricade made to date, but that’s not saying too much. Alt mode is excellent, but bot mode is so-so. If you’re not crazy about the character, then perhaps wait for the MP Barricade that is due out sometime this year.

Below is a pic of Barricade with some other TLK figures, that will come in later months.

I mentioned in earlier entries that I made a visit to New Zealand and Australia in 2017. That was a great trip! And I wanna go back there so bad. Anyways, that happened in April of 2017. The 3 figures featured so far were found before the trip. All other figures this month were acquired after the trip. And believe me, I tried hunting for Transformers in Australia. I did locate some Toys R Us stores on Google Maps, but they were too far out of the way from where we stayed and where we went for attractions. Bummer. I would have liked to see Toys R Us in Australia, like I did for Paris and Shanghai. And now that Toys R Us is officially closing all stores here in the United States (and in the U.K.), I wonder if the international stores will survive.

Broadside

TR Broadside is one of the last figures I found in April, but I’m gonna talk about him now. For a long time, I was really hoping Hasbro would make a Broadside. I featured my CHUG Wreckers a while back, in this post. Look on the 3rd shelf, and I got all the original Wreckers updated in modern day form. Except for Broadside. So now having Broadside is a dream come true. That is, until I opened the figure.

Broadside is one of the original Autobot Triple Changers, along with Springer and Sandstorm. His 2 alt modes is a jet and an aircraft carrier. The concept of such a figure already boggles the mind. From a story perspective, Broadside has to be doing some crazy mass shifting to go from a regular sized bot to an aircraft carrier. And as for the toy, it’s very, very had to implement in physical form, because the shape of an aircraft carrier is very different from the shape of a jet. I never had the G1 toy, but I understand it’s not the best.

Titans Return is taking a stab at doing this difficult figure to please the hardcore completist fans, and I do appreciate them trying. But the end result is less than stellar. The aircraft carrier mode is decent, the robot mode is passable, but the jet mode is horrendous. The front of the jet looks ok, but the rear of the jet looks like something a fan would make up out of a toy as another mode. It’s as if the toy designers did not know what to do with the robot legs, so they kinda just stuck it in an awkward configuration for the rear of the jet called it a day. There is so much bulk at the back that this can’t be considered a good jet mode by any means. I don’t recommend this figure. Here are some pics.

Sky Shadow

Another figure I got towards the end of the month is Sky Shadow. He’s the last TR figure for the month. I did a quick review for him already, so read all the juicy details here. Sky Shadow is a recommended figure for this month.

Bumblebee, Kickback, Gnaw

The 3 TR legend class figures were bought as a set, for $32.99. I did find them all individually later in store for cheaper, but I wanted to lock them in early since legend figures always go fast when they first come out.

TR Bumblebee is not bad, but not great. Transformation uses the tried and true Bumblebee formula. Poseability is decent and construction is solid. I love the head and face sculpt, it’s done really well for a $10 figure. The Autobot logo is also nicely painted on and not a cheap sticker. The alt mode, while not a G1 bug, resembles something that Bumblebee would choose to be today. This figure doesn’t do anything that previous CHUG legend Bumblebees haven’t done, with the exception of one thing: A Titan Master can ride inside him in alt mode. You read that right. Most figures first released under the Titans Return line can have a Titan Master ride somewhere in their alt modes. And legend figures are no exception (if the alt mode is a vehicle). In Bumblebee’s case, the chest cavity is made hollow enough that a Titan Master can be squeezed in there in alt mode. However, this does mean that getting the car mode to clean up nicely after transformation is a bit tougher. The panel pieces surrounding the hollow cabin can collapse on itself inwards. My final verdict is that TR Bumblebee is a nice offering. Worth picking up if you have no other CHUG Bumblebees, or if you dig the the Titan Master riding feature. As for everyone else, this is an optional purchase.

TR Kickback is the last of the 3 famous Insecticons to be released in legend scale, in some kind of Generations line. We already got Thrilling 30 Skrapnel (Shrapnel) and Combiner Wars Bombshell (glad they could keep the name and not use Bombshock). Titans Return Kickback completes the trio. Overall, I like this Insecticon less than the other 2. The figure is ok, but he’s more flimsy than his Insecticon brothers. Construction of the figure feels cheap. He’s got parts dangling about in both modes, but that’s more of an issue with the initial character design. The insect mode is the weakest of the 3, by far. The mechanics of the transformation seems rushed and lazy. All TR legend figures use cheap ball joints, but Kickback’s implementation of them appear really obvious. If you got the other 2, than by all means pick up this figure to assemble the trio. But if you don’t, Kickback can be a skip. Or better yet, get one of the other ones first. My favorite out of these 3 is Bombshell, and it’s not because I’m partial to the character. He’s the most robust and solid out of the 3 Insecticons.

The last in this set of threesome is Gnaw. Anyone who has seen the G1 Movie knows that Gnaw makes up the drone soldiers of the Sharkticon army, under direction of the Quintessons. A G1 figure of Gnaw was made, and I think his allegiance was Sharkticon on the Tech Spec Bio. However, they still put a Decepticon logo on the toy, and I don’t recall if the name Gnaw was ever used in the G1 Movie or Cartoons. So was a figure made after the Movie designed this character, or did they take this toy and then make up the whole Quintesson backstory? We may never know. But what I do know is that TR Gnaw is pretty cool. He is one of the most unique figures that I have purchased in some time. His colors are unmistakably Gnaw. In robot mode he’s kinda stocky, but that actually reflects how he looked in the G1 Movie. Transformation to the metal shark creature is one of the most unique I have seen, and mechanically it actually works quite well. Robot head folds back, and the legs go backwards and form the shark back and head. Robot arms become the shark legs. The weapon becomes the shark tail. It doesn’t do justice when I describe it in words, but trust me it’s cool. I love how Gnaw looks as the shark creature. He’s got nice clear yellow eyes and a working lower jaw. Shark arms can be rotated, and the shark legs has a decent level of articulation. The alt mode also comes together well, forming a solid cohesive piece despite the fact that he’s got arms and legs. My only gripe is that he’s only legend class. In the Movie he’s actually a tad bigger than Hot Rod and Kup, so a deluxe or voyager class figure would have made more sense. But as legend class, I suppose some hardcore fan out there can get a bunch of these and assemble a Sharkticon army. I give Gnaw the highest level of recommendation. This figure is a required purchase for G1 fans.

E-Nergeon Cubes

I made quick post about these cubes here. See that post for a more in depth look at this high quality 3P accessory made to scale with your MP figures. Highly recommended.

MADLAW

Sixshot is not the only Six-Changer in the TF Universe. There is also an Autobot Six-Changer: Quickswitch. Only the most hardcore of G1-ers know about Quickswitch, and that’s for good reason. The toy came about way too late in G1 to matter. And, to be quite frank, G1 Quickswitch is not the best figure by any standards. In robot mode he looks like he’s wearing diapers, the puma mode is a mess, and his weird color palette of red and green is worthy of arrest by the Cybertron fashion police.

MADLAW is FansProject’s attempt at a modern Quickswitch, much like Hexatron is to Sixhot. Upon first hearing about MADLAW, I was quite excited. When he was finally released, there wasn’t much fanfare or fan buzz. Then the figure faded into obscurity, buried among the many 3P products that we are now saturated with today. Now I know why. Unlike the awesome Hexatron, Quickswitch is not a figure that will knock your socks off.

I purchased MADLAW sometime in late 2016. Tfsource.com had a sale for it at $39.99. I figured you can’t go wrong at this price. I didn’t have anything else to ship with MADLAW so I waited til now. And MADLAW did not make this worth the wait. He’s packed in robot mode. He looks alright in this mode, not great but not bad. He’s significantly smaller than Hexatron. So I guess MADLAW is meant to scale with CHUG.

The first mode I tried to transform him to is the boat mode. I didn’t get very far before I noticed something weird. On one side, the foot piece wouldn’t rotate and line up correctly to go into this alt mode no matter how hard I tried. Turns out, I got left foot pieces on both legs! At this point I gave up on trying to transform the figure and MADLAW stayed in robot mode all this time.

I contacted Tfsource.com to have the situation remedied. Tfsource made me take pictures of the issue, so I did and sent it to them. Then they come back saying I contacted them after 30 days, and per their policy they can’t do anything after 30 days. I got two problems here. One: why did they make me take pictures if all they are gonna say is this is past 30 days? That was a total waste of my time. Two: quoting a policy to not remedy the problem is simply hiding behind policy to do nothing. Real good here, tfsouce. Aren’t you the one that makes the policies? There is no faster way to alienate customers than hiding behind stupid policies. I have since given tfsource way less business. Both capturedprey.com and thechosenprime.com have gone to much greater lengths to take care of me. I mentioned how capturedprey.com got a replacement stand piece for me for Soar. And more recently, thechosenprime.com got me a replacement piece for Contactshot. On a part that I broke! And I broke it about 4 months after the purchase! I now give these 2 much more business. Screw Tfsource!

Anyways, back to MADLAW. Even without the foot piece issue, I don’t think he’s such a great figure. He is kinda small for today’s standards. The only alt mode I tried to get him to didn’t look all that good, even if there was not a wrong foot piece getting in the way. Transformation for that one mode also didn’t feel that smooth. I realize I didn’t fully give the figure a chance here, but if FansProject had better QA, I would have. I blame FP for including the wrong part to begin with, and tfsouce for not fixing the problem. As it stands, I do not recommend this figure. For that reason, I’m not gonna include any pics of MADLAW out of the box. My thoughts about the figure may change, if I choose to dig out this figure and play with it more. But that seems highly unlikely.

If you’re wondering why this figure is called MADLAW, it’s because each letter in the name is also the first letter for each of the modes. For example, W stands for Wood Runner (the puma mode).

All this reminds me of the time I got two left hands for the TF Animated Rodimus figure. How do errors like these happen? Sometimes I really wonder what goes on at a transforming figure toy factory. I have a feeling I might not wanna know. I hope it’s not as bad as what I read about Apple factories.

Is another 3P going to take a stab at their own Quickswitch? Only time will tell.

Turbo Ejector

Last but certainly not least, I have to mention Turbo Ejector. This awesome figure is Warbotron’s interpretation of Technobot Afterburner in MP scale. I did a quick review of the figure. Go read that for all the details, or just trust me and go buy this figure now.

To summarize, these are the grades for the figures this month:

Recommended:

• RiD Soundwave
• TR Gnaw
• TR Sky Shadow
• E-Nergeon Cubes
• Warbotron Turbo Ejector

Mediocre:

• TR Bumblebee
• TR Kickback
• RiD Blurr
• TLK Barricade

Not Recommended:

• TR Broadside
• FansProject Function-XV MADLAW (though this may change)

Transform and Roll Out.

 

We have to talk about Turbo Ejector. This figure is Warbotron’s interpretation of Technobot Afterburner in MP scale. And I’ll get straight to it: I really like this figure. I have heard of high praises for Turbo Ejector for some time before this purchase. In fact, I tried to buy it in 2016. Saw a eBay listing at a good price, but too many eBay scammers in recent years made me hesitant. So when I saw him on sale at $79.99, I quickly got one (MSRP is $95.99). And that was a smart decision.

Before we look at the figure, let’s take a peek at the box. Even the box is high quality. Construction of the box is one of the sturdiest I have seen, made of high quality cardboard all around.

Box open flap. Nice artwork on the inside flap.

Tab on the side of the box for easy pull out.

In the packaging.

Turbo Ejector is about the same size as the other Warbotron Combaticon limb figures. He actually weighs quite a bit for a figure of this size. I don’t detect any diecast. For him to weigh this much, the fig has got to be made with some high quality plastic.

Back view.

Alternate back configuration for the G1 purists.

All armored up.

I’m ready for my closeup. Great face sculpt.

Ready for some serious action. Check out the awesome light-piping.

Construction of the figure is super solid. Warbotron figure are usually plagued with tolerance issues, but I detect no such problems on my Turbo Ejector. Everything fits snugly where they need to be. Joints are just tight enough to hold some good poses, but not so tight that transformation becomes frustrating.

Speaking of transformation, Turbo Ejector follows the same overall motif as G1 Afterburner. It’s good to see that Warbotron did not stray very far from the character’s G1 roots and implemented a modern transformation that is true to the original toy. Turbo Ejector’s transformation difficulty is somewhere between easy and average. I like that, actually. This is a figure you can just pick up and play.

I love this alt mode. Afterburner is my favorite Technobot, and part of that is because of his awesome motorcycle alt mode. It looks like a futuristic bike, like those Tron bikes.

Alt mode with weapons attached.

Alt mode with weapons attached more G1 style.

Back view of the bike.

Turbo Ejector forms the right arm of Computicon (Computron). I didn’t try this, since I don’t have the rest of the guys. And on that point, I did hear that Turbo Ejector is the best fig in the group. That makes me hesitant to get the rest. But who knows… if I’m lucky enough to find his cohorts for cheap, I will.

I cannot recommend Turbo Ejector enough. He is far superior to Quantron’s Overheat. Again, Afterburner is my favorite Technobot. I’m happy there is a high quality MP scale figure made of him. Transform and Roll Out!

 

Some impressive figures arrived in March. And like June of last year, this is another month where 3P products outnumber official products. Is this a new trend among hardcore TF collectors? Only time will tell. But for now let’s focus our optics on the goodies below.

• Titans Return Sixshot, Toys R Us, $46.99

• Masterpiece Grapple, hlj.com, ¥11200 (about $102.72)

• MakeToys Gundog, thechosenprime.com, $79.99

• Fans Toys Mercenary, thechosenprime.com, $82.99

• Warbotron Air Burst, bbts.com, $71.19

Sixshot

Let’s first take a look at Sixshot. This is an official Hasbro update of the character. There was a time when I was really hoping for Hasbro or Takara to do their modern interpretation of Sixshot, something I have expressed all in way back in 2009. This became reality 8 years later in 2017. However, one third party beat them to the punch. I featured MMC Hexatron in a previous post. I bought the figure in 2014, but I believe he was released in 2013. So Hasbro/Takara is late to the party. That kind of took some of the hoopla out of Sixshot’s release now. And fans will undoubtedly compare Sixshot to Hexatron.

I will say this now: Sixshot is not as good as Hexatron. If you want a MP scaled Sixshot with better construction quality, more detail, and superior transformation, Hexatron is the way to go. When the two are compared side by side, Sixshot feels like the toy while Hexatron feels like the collector’s piece. But this doesn’t mean that Sixshot is a bad figure in any way, shape, or form. I will outline some of the pros and cons of Sixshot below.

Pros:

• At only $46.99, better value over Hexatron
• There are some specific areas of Sixshot where the engineering has pleasantly surprised me, not many of these areas though
• Comes with a Titan Master (or Headmaster) figure, though hardcore G1 purists will argue this is a con
• In each of the six modes, there is a different place to store the Titan Master

Cons:

• Detail not as good as Hexatron
• Engineering not as good as Hexatron
• Scale may be an issue; too big for CHUG, and too small to be MP

I would say that if you already have Hexatron, you may want to skip Sixshot. But if you don’t collect 3P products, or if you’re just a completist, then by all means pick up Sixshot. He’s a perfectly solid figure with no severe shortcomings.

Grapple

The only other official product this month is MP Grapple. Grapple is a repaint of MP Inferno, which was purchased last month. To this day I still have not opened Grapple. I have been meaning to, but I just haven’t got around to it. I’m gonna trust that he’s as good as Inferno. In fact, some fans have said that he’s better. I’m told that Takara reworked enough bits on Grapple that he feels like a different figure. I can’t confirm nor deny that. I will open him soon and see for myself.

Gundog

Let’s now turn our attention to the 3P products of the month. But first, I want to mention a new online TF retailer that I decided to try: The Chosen Prime. I have bought from them before, though it was through Amazon, for a legend class Acid Storm. This month is the first time I ordered from them direct. And let me say this: they have surpassed all my expectations! The items were carefully packed and delivered on time. There was a mix-up about how I wanted the items shipped, but a short email to their customer service quickly resolved the issue. Since then, they have become one of my trusted go-to stores online for collector grade TFs. Bravo Chosen Prime!

First item from Chosen Prime is MakeToys Gundog, their tribute to G1 Hound. Hound needs no introduction. He got significant screen time in the first 3 eps of G1, “More Than Meets The Eye”. It looks like he was gonna be best friends with Spike, until later Bumblebee took that role. Hound is perhaps best known for his hologram projections, which he used to fool Decepticons time and time again. As a G1 toy, Hound is memorable as only one of a few Jeep type vehicles in all of G1. As of this writing, there is still not an official Masterpiece update of Hound. So it’s left up to third parties to step up to the plate.

There are currently two flavors of 3P Hound: MakeToys Gundog and Fans Toys Willis. I looked at the pictures over and over, and considered which one I wanted to represent my Hound. In the end I went with Gundog. I won’t bore you all with what went into this selection process, but suffice it to say it was not an easy decision. They both have their pros and cons. It comes down to mostly aesthetics. Gundog represented the G1 toy a bit more and that won me over.

I am very happy with Gundog. I opted for the cartoon accurate green version (over the toy accurate dark green version). He comes packed in robot mode. The details in the head mold is excellent, and the design is unmistakably Hound. He’s got enough articulation to satisfy those fans who like dynamic poses in their figures. I do have two small gripes about the robot mode. The legs can appear a bit thick. And the upper portion of the figure does not appear to be able to snap in with the lower half, resulting in a figure that like to bend forward at the waist when it’s being handled.

Gundog’s transformation is one of the most ingenious that I have seen in recent years. The arms have this very original unfolding mechanism that flats out into the base of the Jeep. I love Gundog in the alt mode and I find no weaknesses in this mode whatsoever. He rolls fine on a flat surface. Gundog comes with many accessories, and in alt mode is where all these accessories truly make an impact. Below I have some Minions cruising around in Gundog.

Mercenary

Next up is Fans Toys Mercenary, also purchased from The Chosen Prime. I had already committed to the Fans Toys Insections, starting with Grenadier (Bombshell). By March of 2017, it was getting difficult to secure purchases of the Fans Toys Insecticons. Most hardcore fans seem to agree that FT does the best 3P MP-style Insecticons, and these figures were selling fast. When I saw that Chosen Prime had a copy of Mercenary remaining, I quickly jumped at it.

As you can no doubt see, Mercenary is Shrapnel, unofficial leader of our favorite robotic insect pests. Fans Toys did a remarkable job with this figure. He looks cartoon accurate in both modes, and in bug mode he feels G1 toy accurate as well. These FT insects may be small, but they got some heft to them. The weight and feel seem to suggest that some diecast parts are used. Transformation follows the same overall G1 motif for Sharpnel. However, there are some minor mechanics that you should watch for if you decide to get this figure and transform it. Also, since there are diecast parts, transformation can be more difficult than you might expect. It’s hard for me to explain this in words, but transforming and manipulating diecast takes more effort than plastic. But don’t let these annoyances stop you if you want MP style Insecticons in your collection. Shrapnel looks fantastic. The beetle horns are painted an excellent silver chrome (unlike the FansProject Insecticons, which came with a dull grey and had to be custom painted silver). He scales accurately with other MP Decepticons. Construction of the figure is solid. All these positives are wrapped up in a package of around $80. You will not be disappointed with Mercenary.

Air Burst

The final entry of the month is Air Burst. It’s also the final piece that I needed to complete my Warbotron Combaticons. Ironically, Air Burst (aka Blast Off) was the first figure released in the Warbotron line. Back in G1, Blast Off was my first Combaticon purchased. So why did I get all the other Warbotron figs first? All the Warbotron figs were already released when I started buying them. I was recommended to go with Sly Strike (aka Swindle) first, since many fans have voiced that he’s the best one of the bunch. And also because I found him at a good sale. Then my wife got me Whirlwind (aka Vortex) and Heavy Noisy (aka Brawl) as gifts. Fierce Attack (aka Onslaught) was found at a sale shortly after. And this leaves only Air Burst. I actually found him at a sale too, and got him sometime late in 2016. I held back on shipping him because I thought I was gonna get more items. As it turns out, I didn’t. So I waited to ship him all the way til March of 2017 for nothing. Super bad planning on my part.

I thought I was going to be disappointed with Air Burst, since many fans have expressed dissatisfaction of sorts. I’m not sure what everyone’s complaining about, because I love the figure! Just to be clear, I got V1 of this figure, and not the supposedly fixed V2. (Sidebar: Earlier releases of Fierce Attack comes with V2 parts, but unfortunately I was not aware of that and got a later release that doesn’t 🙁 ) I don’t detect any issues to have a crying fit. I love both the alt mode and the robot mode. I love the way he transforms – simple enough to be fun but complex enough to be satisfying. I have no issues with his appearance. He’s very G1 accurate as far as I’m concerned. Warbotron figs are known to have minor tolerance issues, but I detect nothing of the sort on my Air Burst. The arm connection mechanism for the combined mode is what is supposedly fixed for V2. I dunno, I combined Bruticus with my V1 Air Burst and everything seems fine. I guess my only gripe about Air Burst is that there’s a bit of puzzle forming, in that the rear thrusters form the arm cannons. I would have liked to see the thrusters incorporated into the transformation and be parts in robot mode, but it’s something I can live with.

Now for some group pics. Air Burst looks great with his fellow Combaticon cohorts. Check it out!

Now that the team is complete, it’s time combine! Combaticons, transform and merge into Bruticus!

I love this combiner set. Warbotron did justice to my favorite combiner team from G1. I have absolutely no regrets with buying this set for my MP styled Combaticons. I know there are some newer 3P offerings coming for the Combaticons. But only time will tell if any of the newer sets are hands down superior to Warbotron. For now, these are my MP Combaticons.

One last thing: the boxes for each Warbotron fig can combine and form a giant piece of artwork. It’s kinda cool. Check out the pic below.

Below are some extra pics of the three 3P figs this month in their alt modes.

That wraps it up for March of 2017. Until next time, Transform and Roll Out!
 

Quick post today. I got a bunch of Decepticons out and lying about. So it’s time for Megatron to lead the troops into battle and kick some Autobot ass!

Check the pic below.

This roster of Decepticons won’t take crap from no one:

• Masterpiece Megatron (MP-36)
• Masterpiece Starscream (MP-11)
• Titans Return Octone (Octane)
• Titans Return Blitzwing
• Titans Return Sky Shadow
• Titans Return Kickback
• Robots in Disguise Soundwave
• Robots in Disguise Skywarp
• Last Knight Barricade
• Warbotron Bruticus – Fierce Attack, Air Burst, Whirlwind, Sly Strike, Heavy Noisy

Autobots everywhere had better beware. This collection reminds me of the time I gathered this group of Decepticons.

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.

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.

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!

Since I started tracking my purchases on this blog, October has provided no shortage of TF action in either figure count and/or spending. October 2012 holds the record for highest TF count in a single calendar month (at 24 figures), and October 2014 holds the record for most TF spending in a single calendar month (at $885.90.. yikes!).

In true October fashion, this month is also filled with TF purchases that are way above my average monthly tally. I don’t think October 2015 sets any new personal records, but there are a lot of figures here nonetheless.

• Combiner Wars Ultra Magnus and Minimus Ambus, amazon.com, $40

• Combiner Wars Ironhide, Target, $14.99

• Combiner Wars Prowl, Target, $14.99

• Combiner Wars Sunstreaker, Target, $14.99

• Combiner Wars Mirage, Target, $14.99

• Combiner Wars Cyclonus, amazon.com, $17.89

• Masterpiece Bumble G-2 Ver., hlj.com, $36.47

• Perfect Effect Perfect Combiner PC-05 Upgrade Set, tfsource.com, $32.99

• Before & After Omega Launcher for MP-17 Prowl, tfsource.com, $14.95

• ToyWorld Devil Star, tfsource.com, $119.99

• Warbotron Sly Strike, tfsource.com, $75.99

• Fans Toys Sever, tfsource.com, $179.95

Let’s start with Combiner Wars Ultra Magnus. This is hands down my favorite Ultra Magnus figure of all time! That’s a strong statement, considering I own almost all of them. I like this figure even better than Masterpiece UM, because the CW fig is less blocky and more playable. I have gone into details about this figure back in the post, so I won’t do it again. Minimus Ambus is a character I know nothing about. I believe he’s from the IDW-verse of comics, but I could be totally wrong here. The Minimus Ambus figure in this package is completely forgettable and adds nothing to the Ultra Magnus toy.

Below is pic of my two favorite Ultra Magnus figs of all time.

Combiner Wars continue with more figures that are very minor reworks of what’s already out there. In this month we get Ironhide, Prowl, Sunstreaker and Mirage. Hasbro really knows how to milk us hardcore G1 fans by tweaking existing molds very slightly and then releasing them as popular G1 characters. I probably could have skipped this foursome altogether, but I’m a total sucker for G1 characters from the first 2 seasons. And I needed figures that would make sense to combine with CW Optimus. Ironhide, Sunstreaker, and Mirage are reworks of existing Stunticons (Offroad, Breakdown, and Drag Strip, respectively). Prowl is a rework of Streetwise. I won’t go into detail since the rework here is so minor that we may as well just call them repaints.

Cyclonus is yet another rework in the CW line. But this is one rework that feels truly like a rework, and not a repaint with different colors and a different head. A rework of CW Silverbolt, I really dig this Cyclonus figure. He looks absolutely fabulous in the stunning purple paint. Robot mode is nicely proportioned, and the jet mode looks fast and sleek. In addition to the different head mold, Cyclonus offers different wing molds and different nosecone mode in jet mode. And of all the CW body figures, the Silverbolt/Cyclonus mold offers the best combining mechanism, in both function and appearance. The combined head mold is also different, as it is a good representation of Galvatron and not Superion. It’s too bad Cyclonus’s weapon is an exact repaint of the Silverbolt’s weapon, but in this case that’s a minor nitpick. I highly recommend Cyclonus. There are enough difference here from Silverbolt that it feels like you are buying a brand new figure.

Galvatronus is the name of the combined form when Cyclonus is the body. Supposedly CW Cyclonus has the power to mind control other limb components and have them merge with him. That’s kind of a hokey backstory, but whatever. I wish they made Scourge and Sweeps as limb components to form Galvatronus, which makes way more sense. That’s actually a pretty awesome combination now that I think about it. Maybe some TF modder out there has done this already. Anyways, below is a pic of Galvatronus using the 4 CW limb Autobots acquired this month.

The only official Masterpice figure this month is G-2 Ver Bumble. I already stated many, many times about how I love MP G1 Bumblebee. The G2 Ver of the figure is the exact same mold, except he’s covered with shiny gold paint that I initially thought this would be Goldbug. And instead of the Spike figure, we get a second face plate that more resembles the original G1 toy, and a nice rocket pack that we have seen Sideswipe or Optimus use (it’s unclear to me if Bumblebee ever used the rocket pack). If you already have the first MP Bumble, then it’s not necessary to get this figure. But I did anyway, because I love this mold, the new shiny paint job, and all the extra accessories.

Perfect Effect Perfect Combiner PC-05 Upgrade Set and Before & After Omega Launcher for MP-17 Prowl are two upgrade kits that are similar to the upgrade sets that I bought back in June of this year. Specifically, they are repaints of Perfect Combiner PC-02 and Alpha Launcher for MP-18, respectively. Perfect Combiner PC-05 is meant to be used with Combiner Wars Superion, but technically you can use them with any of the CW figs in combined form. Omega Launcher are non-firing shoulder missile enhancements for MP Prowl. Again, they are exact repaints of what came before, so I won’t go into them too much. Actually, I have not even had the chance to put Omega Launcher on Prowl. But in theory it should look just as awesome as Alpha Launcher on Bluestreak.

Devil Star is ToyWorld’s interpretation of Astrotrain. I love ToyWorld, and I love Astrotrain, which is why I pre-ordered this figure as soon as I learned that they are doing a G1 cartoon accurate version (TW had another version of this figure prior to this called Evila Star, with colors that are more similar to the original Takara toy). I have so much faith in ToyWorld that I knew they would do Triple Changers justice. However, I later watched some reviews of Devil Star (and Evila Star), and learned that this guy is an absolute pain to transform. He’s very much a panel former, which doesn’t bother me that much. But it’s excruciatingly unpleasant to get all the panels to line up in both alt modes. I wanted to cancel the pre-order as soon as I found out, but I was a little too late on the trigger and the pre-order came in before I knew it. So now I have it stuck in my possession. To this day, the figure is brand new, never opened. And I don’t plan to. Maybe one day he will be worth big bucks and I’ll resell it. Devil Star is a limited edition figure. In the pic above, the big box is the figure itself, but the little box on top are these exclusive train tracks that are produced in very limited quantities. I am looking to sell the figure. If you’re reading this and want to make me an offer, contact me.

It took some time, but it finally happened… I got a figure from Warbotron! I wrote about Warbotron more than 2 years ago before this month, and I’m ashamed to say that it took a sale for me to finally buy something from them. My buddy Gemini has the entire Warbotron Combaticon set, and he thinks Sly Strike (aka Swindle) is the best of the bunch. So I have been eyeing Sly Strike for quite some time now. I almost bought the figure at regular price, and I’m glad I didn’t when I saw that TFSource was selling them at $14 off from MSRP. I wasted no time getting one. Gemini did not let me down – Sly Strike is awesome! He comes packaged in robot mode. The body stylings is modeled more after the G1 toy and not the show, but body proportions is definitely updated to modern standards (old G1 body proportions would be awful). His face and head mold looks like it jumped straight out of the G1 cartoon, as its got the famous purple eyes and that discriminant black-market salesman grin that only Swindle can possess. Chest area has a similar purple molding like the G1 toy, though fans have come up with an alternate configuration for the robot mode where the jeep hood area can form over the chest for a more Binaltech/Alternator appearance. The figure is also designed so the wheels over the shoulders and the back area can be transformed differently to suit your taste. Warbotron took more liberties with the alt mode, and in my opinion that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In G1, Swindle transforms into a FMC XR311 combat support vehicle. Munitioner by FansProject uses a military Humvee as the alt mode. Warbotron decided to use a Jeep type vehicle, like the Jeep Wrangler Commando. Some fans may complain this is not G1 enough, but I think it’s a good modern update. The detail, colors, and moldings of the alt mode is terrific as well. Transformation of the figure is fairly straightforward. It’s not overly complicated, but at the same time complex enough to satisfy collectors of 3rd party items. Construction wise, Sly Strike does suffer from some slight tolerance issues, but nothing so glaringly bad that it would distract from the enjoyment of the figure. As for his weapons, the hand held pistol is almost an exact replica of G1, updated to MP scale and modern detail standards. Warbotron took more liberties with the cannon and gave it a translucent pink barrel, and personally I think it’s a nice touch. All in all I highly recommend Sly Strike as the MP scale figure for Swindle. I thought I got a good price for Sly Strike at $75.99, but TFSource has been clearing them out at $66.99 for the past few months! Get them while they last!

Last but certainly not least, we have Sever, Fans Toys’ interpretation of Snarl in MP scale. Sever is the 2nd figure that I got in the Fans Toys line of MP Dinobots. The first one was Scoria (aka Slag). FT released Soar (aka Swoop) in between Scoria and Sever, but I didn’t have a chance to buy that one. Scoria is generally considered a good figure, but he’s not without his faults. He’s got the now famous loose shoulder issues that many fans complain about. Surprisingly, mine is fine in the shoulders (I did buy the repair parts for $4 just in case). However, my Scoria is quite loose in the hips. If I pick up Scoria, the legs would definitely droop down at the crotch, and he won’t be able to hold any cool poses. Part if this is because there’s so much weight in the legs. Other fans have complained about some other minor construction issues. Overall I like Scoria, but he was not the perfect MP dino that I thought he would be, because of the loose hips. So when Sever came out, I was a little nervous that he would also share similar issues. But I chose to buy him anyway, because of the $20 early bird discount. I am happy to report that Sever is absolutely perfect! I detect no construction issues whatsoever. All joints are just the right amount of tightness. Some fans complain the joints are too tight, but I think they’re fine. He can hold some terrific poses, and the figure has enough articulation to take full advantage of the solid construction. In both mode, Sever looks like he jumped straight out of the G1 show. Transformation is also superb. He’s not terribly difficult to transform, but at the same time there’s enough going on in the mechanics that hardcore collectors of this line would not find him too simple. The details on this figure would satisfy even the most picky. The weapons for Sever are awesome as well. They both have light up LED capabilities, though batteries are not included. Check the LED operation of the weapons as soon as you get Sever, as I heard some fans complain about them not working. And if I have to make one small nitpick, it’s that there’s no place for the weapons in Dino mode. But that aside, it really feels like Fans Toys is taking all their lessons learned with Scoria, and they have implemented them in Sever. (They may have done that with Soar as well, as I have heard nothing but praises.) This is 3rd party MP Dinobot at it’s best. To this day I still have Sever out for display, because I like him that much. I highly, highly recommend Sever. Fans Toys have fully restored my faith in their line of MP Dinos. I am now looking forward to getting both Soar and Stomp (aka Sludge), the latter of which came out after Sever.

That ended up being a way longer post than I meant for it to be. October of 2015 had 12 purchases, for a total of 11 figures and 2 upgrade sets. This is the last month in 2015 with a high number of purchases. This month was also a lot of repaints. By my count, only 4 purchases are not repaints or reworks. Even the 2 upgrade sets are repaints. Sometimes I buy TFs purely based on if I like the character; I think in the future I need to be more mold conscious. I am very happy about Sly Strike and Sever, two of the more expensive purchases this month. A bit regretful that I should have cancelled Devil Star when I had the chance.

Til next time… Transform and Roll Out.