Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 29, 2012 15:18:27 GMT
Arms Micron B2
B2 is the Arms Micron that is supplied with the Japanese version of Transformers Prime Bumblebee. Moulded in a goldy bronze plastic his character mode, like all the other Autobot Arms Microns, is a robot. Articulation is very limited with bending elbows and arms that raise to the sides at the shoulders. On his chest is a round blue Autobot spark crystal. The legs look odd: there's no outer side to them (see bellow in the Transformation for why): usually if there's a missing leg side on a Transformers toy it's the back and the knees fold back. Not here....
B2 is covered in 5mm posts & holes. Unfortunately one of the most prominent 5mm holes is right in the middle of his crotch.... ooops. There's a long traditional Minicon post, with a bore hole down the middle, sticking out of his bottom, a 5mm hole in the small of his back and a shorter 5mm post between his shoulder blades..... we'll come back to this arrangement in weapons mode. Each arm has a 5mm hole bored through it under the elbow joint, a short stubby 5mm peg on the outside of the arm and the arms end not in a moulded hand but an open 5mm hole. The means he can raise his arms and use them as cannons but can also hold other Microns and 5mm weapons: he's been holding Wheeljack's swords and Ratchet's knives here.
Transformation: straighten the arms and fold each arm up at the shoulder so the head is covered and the arms point straight up parallel to each other. Fold each lower leg out to the side and up at the knee so that the lower leg ends up covering the upper leg.
B2's weapon mode is a dual barrelled cannon, similar to the guns that come with the western version of Bumblebee and come packaged with many of the Cyberverse toys. I love double barrelled guns anyway and this one reminds me very much of some of the older Targetmaster gun. It's got a good heft to it too. It can be held as a hand held gun, plugged into a 5mm socket or mounted on a Minicon/5mm peg. However the two pegs under the toy mean that the larger rear handle doesn't recess that far into any socket, that the smaller front handle is virtually useless and that you can only mount the toy on a peg using the socket under the toy if the peg protrudes some distance/is mounted on a plinth. Reaching for Armada Hoist, my Micron/Minicon test toy of choice, none of his posts will reach the socket under the toy..... fortunately there's another post hole on the middle of the top of the toy he can be mounted using. I think I'd have removed the second smaller post under the toy and probably the socket between the two posts as well. Elsewhere on the toy there's kind of a 5mm hole going through the back of the toy formed by both edges of the robot's knees but you'll need a particularly big post for it to securely lock on to. There's a 5mm hole bored through each barrel of the gun and the end of each barrel itself is a 5mm hole allowing to to put other 5mm post weapons/microns into the ends of the gun barrels. The multitude of post holes make him the ideal candidate to be used the core of any combined Arms Micron weapon and indeed with Op & RA he forms the Star Saber. The barrels themselves elevate and descend, via the robot's elbow joint, allowing toy to use him as a ground based cannon.... but what he really remind me of is of Powermaster Optimus Prime's shoulder cannons. The back of the box battle scene art for 1988/Powermasters always made me think that Prime's guns should elevate. Maybe the next time PM Prime gets reissued (with the arms modified to bend?) they could include a pair of silver grey B2s with him as extra guns?
I think B2 is a top Minicon, especially in weapons mode though there's some distinct personality in his robot mode too. It's the only Micron so far who's motivated me to buy a toy just to own it (Though I came very close with CL & Jida!) Although he's not yet appeared individually in the AMW series other opportunities to buy him have subsequently arisen!
Shining B2
I'm a sucker for transparent repaints: I loved the holo figures that Star Wars did a few years ago. But, even in Japan, there's been comparatively few clear Transformers.
Shining B2 is a promotional Transformer that's been given away at several events and in several promotions. The bronzey gold plastic was swapped for a clear yellow.
Love. And fortunately, at time of writing, he's started showing up much cheaper on eBay. One in the post to me.
Arms Micron Ultimate 5 Piece Autobot Set B2
B2 is due to receive a red repaint in the forthcoming Arms Micron Ultimate 5 Piece Autobot Set. I'm not sure red is really the right colour for this toy though. He comes with recoloured versions of Iro (originally packed with Ironhide), O.P. (Optimus Prime), R.A. (Ratchet) and Ooje (from Wheeljack).
There's a corresponding Decepticon set too.
Other Repaints
Lots of colours suggest them self to be used as a repaint for this toy:
Silver like the Powermaster Optimus Prime guns above
Grey or Black like normal Transformers gun
Clear Red like the version of Bumblebee's gun found with Cyberverse toys.
B2 is the Arms Micron that is supplied with the Japanese version of Transformers Prime Bumblebee. Moulded in a goldy bronze plastic his character mode, like all the other Autobot Arms Microns, is a robot. Articulation is very limited with bending elbows and arms that raise to the sides at the shoulders. On his chest is a round blue Autobot spark crystal. The legs look odd: there's no outer side to them (see bellow in the Transformation for why): usually if there's a missing leg side on a Transformers toy it's the back and the knees fold back. Not here....
B2 is covered in 5mm posts & holes. Unfortunately one of the most prominent 5mm holes is right in the middle of his crotch.... ooops. There's a long traditional Minicon post, with a bore hole down the middle, sticking out of his bottom, a 5mm hole in the small of his back and a shorter 5mm post between his shoulder blades..... we'll come back to this arrangement in weapons mode. Each arm has a 5mm hole bored through it under the elbow joint, a short stubby 5mm peg on the outside of the arm and the arms end not in a moulded hand but an open 5mm hole. The means he can raise his arms and use them as cannons but can also hold other Microns and 5mm weapons: he's been holding Wheeljack's swords and Ratchet's knives here.
Transformation: straighten the arms and fold each arm up at the shoulder so the head is covered and the arms point straight up parallel to each other. Fold each lower leg out to the side and up at the knee so that the lower leg ends up covering the upper leg.
B2's weapon mode is a dual barrelled cannon, similar to the guns that come with the western version of Bumblebee and come packaged with many of the Cyberverse toys. I love double barrelled guns anyway and this one reminds me very much of some of the older Targetmaster gun. It's got a good heft to it too. It can be held as a hand held gun, plugged into a 5mm socket or mounted on a Minicon/5mm peg. However the two pegs under the toy mean that the larger rear handle doesn't recess that far into any socket, that the smaller front handle is virtually useless and that you can only mount the toy on a peg using the socket under the toy if the peg protrudes some distance/is mounted on a plinth. Reaching for Armada Hoist, my Micron/Minicon test toy of choice, none of his posts will reach the socket under the toy..... fortunately there's another post hole on the middle of the top of the toy he can be mounted using. I think I'd have removed the second smaller post under the toy and probably the socket between the two posts as well. Elsewhere on the toy there's kind of a 5mm hole going through the back of the toy formed by both edges of the robot's knees but you'll need a particularly big post for it to securely lock on to. There's a 5mm hole bored through each barrel of the gun and the end of each barrel itself is a 5mm hole allowing to to put other 5mm post weapons/microns into the ends of the gun barrels. The multitude of post holes make him the ideal candidate to be used the core of any combined Arms Micron weapon and indeed with Op & RA he forms the Star Saber. The barrels themselves elevate and descend, via the robot's elbow joint, allowing toy to use him as a ground based cannon.... but what he really remind me of is of Powermaster Optimus Prime's shoulder cannons. The back of the box battle scene art for 1988/Powermasters always made me think that Prime's guns should elevate. Maybe the next time PM Prime gets reissued (with the arms modified to bend?) they could include a pair of silver grey B2s with him as extra guns?
I think B2 is a top Minicon, especially in weapons mode though there's some distinct personality in his robot mode too. It's the only Micron so far who's motivated me to buy a toy just to own it (Though I came very close with CL & Jida!) Although he's not yet appeared individually in the AMW series other opportunities to buy him have subsequently arisen!
Shining B2
I'm a sucker for transparent repaints: I loved the holo figures that Star Wars did a few years ago. But, even in Japan, there's been comparatively few clear Transformers.
Shining B2 is a promotional Transformer that's been given away at several events and in several promotions. The bronzey gold plastic was swapped for a clear yellow.
Love. And fortunately, at time of writing, he's started showing up much cheaper on eBay. One in the post to me.
Arms Micron Ultimate 5 Piece Autobot Set B2
B2 is due to receive a red repaint in the forthcoming Arms Micron Ultimate 5 Piece Autobot Set. I'm not sure red is really the right colour for this toy though. He comes with recoloured versions of Iro (originally packed with Ironhide), O.P. (Optimus Prime), R.A. (Ratchet) and Ooje (from Wheeljack).
There's a corresponding Decepticon set too.
Other Repaints
Lots of colours suggest them self to be used as a repaint for this toy:
Silver like the Powermaster Optimus Prime guns above
Grey or Black like normal Transformers gun
Clear Red like the version of Bumblebee's gun found with Cyberverse toys.