|
Post by Shockprowl on Nov 29, 2013 11:58:26 GMT
SSSHHHOOOOOOCCCKKKKWWAAAAAAAVVVVVEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
|
|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on Nov 29, 2013 15:02:06 GMT
And your other 4?
|
|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on Nov 29, 2013 15:04:47 GMT
5) TrypticonA walking citybot Dinosaur - would have loved that when I was younger 4) ShockwaveA futuristic space gun packed with electronics and a major player in the comics? How did that not get released here? 3) SwoopOK it's the smallest and most fragile Dinobot but even so every UK Dinobot team has been only 80% complete because of the decision to leave him out. 2) PerceptorAn odder choice maybe.... But I love my Perceptor toy, it's fab. 1) Fort MaxObviously.
|
|
|
Post by Benn on Nov 29, 2013 16:24:13 GMT
1. Perceptor. That's a fantastic toy. The lack of mouth would have bothered me as a kid though, I think. 2. Swoop. Because of he was such a prominent player in the UK comics. So annoying! 3. Shockwave. Yeah, same reasons as above. Mitigated because he got an Action Master.
I'm actually struggling to think of any of the others that I really feel I missed out on.
4. Blaster. The toy scale would have bugged me so damn much as a kid, and the Action Master is much better. 5. Predaking. All of them, yeah. Still never had any of them.
|
|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on Nov 29, 2013 16:49:41 GMT
I would have loved to have owned the Decepticon Clones and the Monsterbots
|
|
|
Post by Shockprowl on Nov 29, 2013 17:05:21 GMT
Errrr 1 Shockwave 2 Swoop 3 Fortress Maximus 4 Predacons 5 Perceptor Criminal we missed out on these.
|
|
|
Post by Bogatan on Nov 29, 2013 17:10:43 GMT
I got Broadside from At Cost and it came with a US Catalogue, think my list will be made up from that sheet of paper. Mostly.
Trypticon - Dinosaur base. Genius. Actually makes even less sense than Sky Lynx.
Swoop - I dont understand the choice, to my mind Slag Sludge and Snarl are all four legged beasties, surely one of them should have made way if they only wanted to release 4 Dinobots over here.
Roadbuster and Whirl - Probably not long after getting the checklist I picked up issues 200 and very briefly was introduced to these two.
Fort Max - saw in toy shop window, wanted didn't get till this year.
|
|
Jim
Thunderjet
Micromaster Backside Monitor
Now in glorious Ultra HD 4K
Posts: 4,859
|
Post by Jim on Dec 1, 2013 0:05:51 GMT
Week 30: US G1 toys that were never sold in the UKYour top 5 toys that were sold in the US as part of the original run of Transformers toys but were not sold in the UK. Not having owned the toy shouldn't be considered a bar to actually including them in your list! 1. Swoop - I would have settled for ANY Dinobot as a child, but wanted Swoop most of all. It seems particularly cruel that he was unreleased here considering how well served the character is by the UK comics. 2. Trypticon - I didn't know he hadn't been released here, since he would have been well out of my budget anyway, but I'd have really liked one (still would!). 3. Perceptor - fantastic toy, didn't realise quite how good until the Encore reissue. 4. Roadbuster - The unavailable Wrecker I most wanted; these days utterly eclipsed by IDW Whirl. 5. Predacons - Fantastic set of toys, hard to forget their UK comic debut. At the time of its release, the reissue set in 2004 was my biggest TF purchase yet, but I didn't hesitate. -Jim
|
|
|
Post by Pinwig on Dec 1, 2013 11:27:09 GMT
The comics were my bible as a kid, much more so than the cartoon, and I used to get frustrated reading stories about figures I couldn't get - or seeing them in the advertising leaflets that came with the toys if you'd by chance got an EU import version. It wasn't long before I realised the worse looking stories in TF:UK were American reprints, which lead me into buying the US comic as well as the UK, so I'd worked out very early that there was a whole bigger world of TF toys outside what the UK was getting. That alone I think means that the early figures we were denied still stick in my mind as being the 'cool' or 'rare' ones that gave them a kind of elite status. So that gives a list like this:
1. Devastator. Not the best toy maybe, but I never had and still don't have these figures, which means they've maintained their mythos as being the ultimate unobtainable in my mind. So many stories back in the day with the Constructicons that even when we got the special teams, Devastator held the place in my mind as being *the* combiner.
2. Shockwave. Would be number one but for the fact that all told he isn't *that* good a figure compared to some of the other early ones. My need for him was partly sated by finding a KO version way back then. Not the grey one, my KO is purple, but really cheaply made. Shockwave was always better in the comic than the flesh, like Ratchet. Those slight changes to his shape made the fictional one the better one. Quakewave has sorted that.
3. Predaking. Now that I finally have the Platinum re-release of this lot and have seen them in the flesh, they don't lose any of the awesomeness they carried for me back in the 80s. To me the gestalt form is streets ahead of any of the other combiners, Predaking is just brilliant.
4. Trypticon. Should have been here to square off against Metroplex. I remember the slightly awkward Metroplex/Scorponok battles in my bedroom during the Headmasters phase, but I never really wanted Fort Max because he was just *so* big compared to the others and in pictures to me looked too blocky.
5. Blaster. Just another one that you used to see in pictures and think, why isn't he here?
Notably absent from this list -
Swoop. Would be top three, but I was lucky enough to get him at the time. I did an exchange trip with a penfriend which meant summer 1985, or possibly 86, I spent in Norway. I remember the excitement of walking into a toy shop and finding him. He featured so heavily in the UK comic though that it made no sense he wasn't out here.
Omega Supreme. He is only not in this top five because the Grandstand Power Convertor version is so close to the real deal that I feel he fills that gap, despite the slight colour differences. That was another one I stumbled across in a cheap odds and ends shop in town and double took on before offloading the week's paper round money as fast as I could.
Also, am I right that the Technobots didn't come out here? Computron was another one that had that mystique of coming across as a great figure in the comics, but I never saw him in a shop.
|
|
|
Post by Bogatan on Dec 1, 2013 12:00:49 GMT
Technobots came out here same time as Throttlebots and mine came with decoys.
Devastator was eventually released via Woolworths in 1990 though that was so much later than it should have I suppose it still count s as unreleased.
I remember seeing a boxed Omegatron at the very first car boot sale I ever went to, but my parents refused to buy it because it wasnt a real Transformer. Parents that could actually tell the difference between real and not real Transformers could be so annoying. Took another 15 years to finally get one.
|
|
|
Post by Pinwig on Dec 1, 2013 13:29:06 GMT
Technobots came out here same time as Throttlebots and mine came with decoys. Devastator was eventually released via Woolworths in 1990 though that was so much later than it should have I suppose it still count s as unreleased. I remember seeing a boxed Omegatron at the very first car boot sale I ever went to, but my parents refused to buy it because it wasnt a real Transformer. Parents that could actually tell the difference between real and not real Transformers could be so annoying. Took another 15 years to finally get one. Interesting. I've got all the Throttlebots but don't ever remember seeing the Technobots. I also didn't know about Devastator. Perhaps I should scratch that itch and get one of the reissues but I'm spending so much on these things at the moment I need to focus on specific lines before I get in trouble. The dying of the Doctor Who Classics line and the general improvement in the TF Generations & increased frequency in Masterpieces has shifted my toy buying back to Transformers with avengance.
|
|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on Dec 1, 2013 16:06:47 GMT
I don't think the Technobots and Terrorcons got anything like the distribution that the 86 Spacial Teams did. And, IIRC, the 86 toys were available into 87 whereas the 87 were only available in 87.
Hmmmm. We need some UK catalogue scans I think
|
|
|
Post by legios on Dec 2, 2013 19:27:56 GMT
Week 30: US G1 toys that were never sold in the UK
Honorable mentions:- Blaster, Trypticon, the Predacons
5. Swoop: Yes, he is probably the least of the Dinobot toys. He feels somewhat fragile to the touch, but nevertheless I really like him. Stands out from the rest of the Dinobots by being lean and lanky rather than powerfully built, and I quite like his alt-mode - it captures the thinness which I think of as a characteristic of Pterasaurs.
4. Fortress Maximus: The ultimate expression of the base-former, and never bettered in that role as far as I am concerned. A fantastically enormous humanoid mode, with weaponry that feels like it is punching in the same weight class as him, and lots of fun play value in fortress mode.
3. Roadbuster: Again, the comic made me want to get him in toy form. But he certainly does not disappoint in the plastic, chunky well armed with accessories and with two decent looking molds. Great toy.
2. Whirl: Can't have Roadbuster without Whirl. Again, I love his look in both modes, enjoy the transformation process and like that he has a decent set of accessories.
1. Shockwave - Probably because of the comic I have always felt that Shockwave had enormous presence and a powerful sense of menace, and that carries over the the toy for me. The fact that it neatly forms a Karl-sized handgun (seriously, when I was eight that thing would have been an enormouse hand-cannon for me) is a nice bonus. Love the mono-eye, the gun hand. I just think that Shockwave is fantastic.
Karl
|
|
|
Post by Shockprowl on Dec 2, 2013 21:19:44 GMT
Oh crapbags! I forgot to put Devastator on my list!!! What's the matter with me?! Swap Perceptor for Devastator.
|
|
|
Post by Pinwig on Dec 2, 2013 23:20:12 GMT
Hmm. I've also realised I've forgotten someone: Sixshot. Thing is can't work out who to drop. Probably Blaster. I saw him on a catalogue sheet and was awed by the number of transformations and the size.
|
|
|
Post by Shockprowl on Dec 3, 2013 7:05:20 GMT
Crapbags! Sixshot!!!
|
|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on Dec 3, 2013 10:10:33 GMT
Yeah I'd forgotten Sixshot!
The thing is we have the varying degrees of grey imports to think about here:
Devastator was released in 1989 and was a Woolworths exclusive but for all intents and purposes it was a grey import, probably Chinese stock. So although Devastator didn't come out in 1985 for all intents and purposes it has had a UK release.
Sixshot meanwhile was available in some quantity in 1994 ish, mainly in Toymaster stores, as a MBC grey import yet we don't consider Sixshot to have an official release. But there were a lot of them at the time. There were also, in lesser quantities, Steeljaw & Rewind, Ramhorn & Eject, Ratbat & Frenzy, Pounce & Wingspan (with different rubsigns to the US versions) Punch/Counterpunch and (probably) Fastlane/Cloudraker all of which never came out at the time.
(The same grey imports, all with the famous MBC Chorleywood sticker on it, also featured more of Soundwave and all the 1986 Headmasters. I think we've got a Chinese grey imports thread somewhere.....)
Yet none of those officially count as being released in the UK. But Devastator, by virtue of being a store exclusive, does.
|
|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on Dec 3, 2013 10:57:12 GMT
|
|
|
Post by The Doctor on Dec 3, 2013 16:51:35 GMT
Shockwave. Blaster. Shockwave. Blaster. Shockwave.
-Ralph
|
|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on Dec 6, 2013 7:58:56 GMT
Week 31: 1991 ToysYour top 5 toys that were released in 1991 See www.tfu.info/year/91index.htm for details. Not much this year due to no US toys. I think we'll allow the toy TFU have missed off their list to be voted for here.
|
|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on Dec 6, 2013 8:39:56 GMT
5) WindmillOh come on Hasbro, we know it's really Whirl, you don't have to pretend. That saying the rare as rocking horse **** Elite Action Masters are an important step towards properly articulated transformers and an acknowledgement that non-transforming Transformers was perhaps not a good idea. 4) Double PunchLikewise stop pretending, we all know it's Scorponok. And very nice it is too. 3) OverlordWonderful toy. Does the dual vehicle combining bit really well. Would be higher if I owned one which I never have. REISSUE! 2) Sky GarryI've not owned Sky Garry but I've got his Brave repaint. Great vehicle mode with a nice gimmick and a cockpit the Micromaster can ride in. Decent robot. Decent pack in Micromaster. But his base mode is a gift adding a real tower to your Micromaster city. 1) Star ConvoyOptimus Prime is back! A new, futuristic body with a moving gimmick in robot and vehicle mode. And it's got a base mode. OK, asthetically there's been better looking base modes but it's big and fun. And with Micromaster Hot Rodimus you get the best TF pack in of all time plainly demonstrating how much we needed Micromasters of the original characters. Wanted it for years and unlike many others I loved it when I got it/
|
|
|
Post by Shockprowl on Dec 6, 2013 17:25:29 GMT
I had no TF toys in '91! None!
|
|
|
Post by Bogatan on Dec 6, 2013 18:46:07 GMT
Week 31: Top ACTIONMASTER THUNDERCRACKER5. Not Actionmaster Thundercracker 4. Not Actionmaster Thundercracker 3. Not Actionmaster Thundercracker 2. Not Actionmaster Thundercracker 1. Actionmaster Thundercracker. Thundercracker gets the best new paint job ever and a slick exosuit jet kitted out with giant purple weapons of mass destruction. Oh the joy. Boring blue becomes potent pink, bland black becomes gorgeous green, grim greys become perfect purples. And don't forget the his shiny new bronze/gold helmet. Don't ever forget that.
|
|
|
Post by Shockprowl on Dec 6, 2013 20:37:41 GMT
AAARGH!!! MY EYES!!!!!!
|
|
|
Post by Benn on Dec 6, 2013 21:56:12 GMT
I had none of these, so this sis a second-hand list for me.
3. Lightspeed 2. OVERLORD 1. Hot Rodimus
Ah well. Charger looks fun though, and Turbo Master? That's Bruticus, right?
|
|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on Dec 6, 2013 23:02:15 GMT
It would seem so
|
|
|
Post by The Doctor on Dec 7, 2013 0:00:19 GMT
Andy K speaks truth.
-Ralph
|
|
Jim
Thunderjet
Micromaster Backside Monitor
Now in glorious Ultra HD 4K
Posts: 4,859
|
Post by Jim on Dec 7, 2013 11:39:53 GMT
Week 31: 1991 ToysYour top 5 toys that were released in 1991 See www.tfu.info/year/91index.htm for details. Not much this year due to no US toys. I think we'll allow the toy TFU have missed off their list to be voted for here. Blimey, I didn't get a single 1991-release, ever; and for the most part I've not even handled an example of the mould! This is actually kind of liberating, I'll just go for the ones I most wanted at the time. I do remember owning the stapled 1991 catalogue with Overlord & co. on the cover and badly wanting a lot of them. 1. Overlord - no question, I so much wanted one of these and still do. Looks like loads of fun and now Roberts and Roche have elevated him to one of the all time Transformer villains. 2. Gripper - love the black and orange and spiked tires. My dad was a carpet fitter who I helped at weekends and holidays though, and I could never shake the associated with carpet gripper. 3. Action Master Tracks - always loved Tracks and he looked liked a genuinely awesome action master. 4. Charger - again, great-looking Action Master. 5. Bombshell - can never get enough Action Masters! Nice looking update of a classic character, too. Bubbling under: Sixliner. I knew nothing of him at the time, but recently acquired the Universe / Cybertron repaint and it's a fine set. -Jim
|
|
|
Post by Bogatan on Dec 7, 2013 12:12:44 GMT
Week 31: In a world with out Actionmaster Thundercracker
5. Slicer - Evil Wheeljack and brutal beach buggy.
4. Overlord - So big.
3. Bombshell - For most of the reasons stated for number one, but with points deducted for slightly skinny vibe and Needler being not quite as good as the two partners higher in the list.
2. Powerflash - See below also.
1. Actionmaster Sideswipe - I'll be honest for a long time AM Sideswipe was my favourite toy. Even more than he who does not exist in this world. Simply put Sideswipe is the best of the actionmaster moulds, at least of existing characters. There was a tendency towards slightly odd proportions on a number of them, some like Tracks have heads that always seemed a little oversized, thats to say a little more oversized than standard AMs. Others like Bombshell and Starscream felt a little bit skinny. Sideswipe I felt got the balance right. And then there was Vanguard. These mini exosuit type partners were my faves, even better than the big exosuit Euro exclusives.
Bubbling under, mostly because I didn't know they existed at the time: -All the AM elites, especially Gay Pride Bruticus which is a fantastic toy and surprisingly good helicopter. -Star Convoy and Hot Rodimus, terrible shame that Rodimus never came out in the UK. -Grandus, surely the definition of the G1 brick.
|
|
|
Post by The Doctor on Dec 7, 2013 12:50:24 GMT
Grandus is a great toy and HIS TIME WILL COME.
-Ralph
|
|