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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 4, 2014 6:22:24 GMT
Week 61: 1998 ToysYour top 5 toys from 1998 please. This is the year that the US gets Transmetals & Fuzors, the UK finally get the first year of BW, get's the second along with Europe & has one of the best silly seasons ever AND the sleeping giant that is Takara awakens with Beast Wars II ! See www.tfu.info/year/98index.htm for details of all the US and Japanese released stuff and look at the previous two years for the UK released toys.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 4, 2014 9:51:15 GMT
Here we go.... You'll know what I think of the first couple of years of BW from previous weeks. From the US side Terrorsaur was good but still needs a decent red & black repaint to match the original basic. Video Razorclaw is gorgeous. Optimal Optimus is rather fun and Rampage & Depth Charge are both decent. But for me the real action this year is in Japan with Starscream & BB having the best deco for this mould using the previously unreleased G2 Megatron & Starscream version. Dirge & Thrust, as we covered last week, really come alive with these repaints, especially with the clear parts. Gigastorm & Helscream are SUPERB re-releases/remoulds. I like Leo Convoy but Japan can and does produce far better remoulds. So top 5: 5) Transmetal AirazorPart of my first ever trade. Fabulous bird mode, very good plane, feminine looking robot, a first for the range, wonderful colour balance in all three modes. One of my favourite western Beast Wars. 4) God NeptuneYou can leave out one Seacon, all the individual weapons and the weapons stands. Don't care. This is gorgeous and I really REALLY want to own one again. So if anyone wants to buy one off toy-fu for me ..... 3) ThrustolHaving held this in my hand yesterday this would have got a nomination if the Dinobot toy had been recoloured in the yellowish brown used for the organic pieces cos it's gorgeous. But throw in the extra weapons and cyborg parts and Dinobot of Borg is something special. 2) Dirge GunOne of the maddest Transformers ever made the cyborg insect looks fabulous. I'd love a full cyborg/mechanical version of this (and indeed the other Cyberbeasts) 1) GalvatronNowadays Galvatrons are ten a penny. But this was the first one and it's Japanese toy madness personified. The robot's good, it's a believable Galvatron. The Dragon mode is fab, very Japanese and a believable T-Rex powerup if you wanted to use Galvatron as a powered up Megatron. So believable that Hasbro would turn Megatron into a Dragon the next year. But he's a triple changer with the most Japanese of vehicle modes, a drill tank. And the drill spins (a first for Transformers?) and looks like a believable upgrade for Galvatron's cannon mode. The Transformation is complex but in a good way, just the right side of the line. One of my all time favourite TFs.
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Stomski
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Post by Stomski on Jul 4, 2014 10:37:09 GMT
Wow this is a tough, what a great year!
TM Cheetor TM Megatron TM Tarantulas Fuzor Silverbolt BWII Lio Convoy
Honorable Mentions... BWII Ikard and Takotank BWII Galvatron Was Airazor really '98? It is listed on the TFU page.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 4, 2014 10:44:59 GMT
That's the video repaint of Airazor. Darker brown, brighter orangey yellow.
And yes 98 was a top year
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Post by Bogatan on Jul 4, 2014 14:42:24 GMT
Week 61: 1998 ToysYour top 5 toys from 1998 please. Okaaaaaaaaaay! I wouldn't have expected this to be that hard, 98 is not a year I particularly enjoyed for Transformers. After the 2 years of original Beast Wars greatness, this felt like a bit of a lull. Not bad but not my thing. But the ones I like, I really like. 5. TM Megatron/ Quickstrike - My top 4 was pretty easy, but I cant choose between these two Megatron Best mega class figure, best BW Megatron, truly spectacle carnage when GPS kicks in. Detachable tail arm, roller skates, it has everything. Quickstrike - Best example of the Fuzor concept, The two animals are intergrated in in a way that seems natural, transformation is fun and quite complex for its size. Robot mode is wonderfully articulated and full of character. 4. Thrustor - I already like the Dinobot mould, making it Borg like worked brilliantly. I wish Hasbro And Mainframe had used this instead on TM2 Dinobot which I never liked. 3. Ikard and Tako Tank - Just how mad is this thing. I'm not sure when I became aware of Tako, but it went straight to the top of my want list and it did not disappoint when I got it in hand. Its an octopus tank with a motorbike in its head and big Anime eyes that frankly have freaked me out once or twice when waking up. Ikard is a nice repaint too, but not equal to.. 2. Claw Jaw - best UK exclusive EVAR!! How much do I like this? So much it tops a very good repaint of the same mould that comes with a giant Octopus tank, thats how much. This is one of my favourite basic/scout moulds and to have gotten 2 great uses of it is fantastic. 1. Buzzclaw - Erm. This mould is awesome. And this and its botcon repaints all have fantastic colour schemes. Bubbling under: TM Tarantulas other than Megatron the only TM or TM2 that really felt like an upgrade on the original version. (maybe Rhinox too, but that was a low bar)
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kayevcee
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The Weather Wizard
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Post by kayevcee on Jul 4, 2014 15:21:20 GMT
Phil- I've got a God Neptune, but the box is a bit dinged up and is all scraped up one side. Is that okay?
-Nick
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 4, 2014 15:32:19 GMT
How much were you looking for for it?
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 4, 2014 20:10:10 GMT
3. Ikard and Tako Tank - Just how mad is this thing. I'm not sure when I became aware of Tako, but it went straight to the top of my want list and it did not disappoint when I got it in hand. Its an octopus tank with a motorbike in its head and big Anime eyes that frankly have freaked me out once or twice when waking up. Ikard is a nice repaint too, but not equal to.. Apparently there's a Tako Tank bath toy! tfwiki.net/wiki/Tako_Tank#Beast_Wars_II_2
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Post by legios on Jul 8, 2014 18:19:50 GMT
Week 60: Flipchanger Vehicles
Just edging off the bottom of the list: Towline (no parking at number five _means_ no parking apparently), MW Megatron
5. Skid-Z: In my opinion the best-looking deco this mould ever had, which edges it onto this list in favour of the other versions
4. Machine Wars Thundercracker: Get used to this mould, you are going to see it again on this list. I would probably say that Thundercracker was the first deployment of my favourite alt-mode of the flip-changers Firstly, because it is French and therefore a rare non-US military alt-mode in Transformers, and secondly because it is a Rafale and I happen to think that Rafale are wonderful looking aircraft. Not quite as lovely as a Gripen, but definitely up there in the scrap for second place in the "second-best looking modern combat aircraft stakes. Secondly, Thundercracker has a great retro-deco going for him. His colour-scheme looks like it came straight out of the 1960s - early '70s and therefore looks wonderfully daft on him.
3. BWII Thrust: My eyes, my eyes! A banana yellow stealthy fighter alt mode... Wonderful, also very striking sitting on the shelf. He also has the best gun design of the flipchangers in to the bargain
2. Wingstun: an updated version of MW Thundercracker basically. Takes the same basic retro-colour scheme but makes some changes to the palette. Also comes with a wonderfully out-of-the-ordinary choice of melee weapon - a Trident. Maybe he is going tuna-fishing once Earth is conquered or something.
1. MW Skyfire: Told you that you would need to get used to the Rafale mould coming up a few times. Skyfire is one of the few flipchanger jets which look like they are making much of an attempt to be "in disguise" (the MW Megs being the other two). The basic grey of the scheme is very reminiscent of the colours of real Rafale Maritime, and makes it look like he is at least trying to blend in with the human aeroplanes. (Of course, the purple and black striping kind of lets him down a little. But to give him the benefit of the doubt, perhaps the Internet told him about US Navy "CAG Birds" and he thought every navy did that...)
Karl
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 9, 2014 19:39:31 GMT
Did you do Wk 59 Universe 2 Kaptain ?
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Post by legios on Jul 9, 2014 19:48:42 GMT
Apparently not. I shall put that on my list to catch up with.
Karl
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 10, 2014 6:41:51 GMT
A Topical Thursday Teaser:
Which of the jacketed officers will be spurred into action in this metropolis?
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Post by Marc Graham on Jul 10, 2014 8:35:24 GMT
1998
1. Transmetal Cheetor - Love the look in both modes, Jet addition to beast mode - awesome 2. Lio Convoy - Just an awesome looking thing 3. Transmetal Megatron - Great in both modes, thrustors in Dino mode - awesome 4. Optimal Optimus - Chunky Munkee - fun 5. Rampage - Shiny
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 10, 2014 22:29:14 GMT
A Topical Thursday Teaser: Which of the jacketed officers will be spurred into action in this metropolis? Honestly I really thought someone would get this one by now! There's two name clues in there plus another one to something else related to this character!
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 11, 2014 6:28:35 GMT
Week 62: Galvatron
Your top 5 Galvatron toys please!
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Post by blueshift on Jul 11, 2014 7:02:20 GMT
Are there more than 5? I can think of G1, BW2 and Classics
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 11, 2014 7:30:01 GMT
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 11, 2014 7:42:21 GMT
Points for RID & Botcon 2011Minus points for Movie for because A) I don't like the Movie aesthetic and B) not every TF is a f***ing ground vehicle meant for Autobots 5) Universe 2This mould has a lot going for it. I like the head and chest and lightpiping. The implementation is terrible: as commonly said this should be a Voyager toy. 4) Superlink Galvatron GThe original Superlink toy AKA smaller Energon Megatron is a nice Voyager sized jet with many of the Galvatron design tropes. Sadly upsized for the Western market generally, but the original had a TRU release in a 2 pack. The the repaint, never released innthe Voyager version in the west, is even better in Galvatron purple with it's bonus weapon. As much as I love the Dinobot sword in pink it would have been better in Galvatron's yellow. But it does annoy me that the smaller sword, a version of which is included with both Voyager and Leader versions of this toy, can't be hand held! 3) ArmadaGiant purple cannon that you pull back on to fire. 12 years later and I'm still laughing that they got away with it! 2) G1Electronics - both sound and light up, triple changing and an imposing presence. Decent articulation. An independent characterisation before it got saddled with the idea of being an upgraded Megatron (is there a story out there where Megatron escapes from Unicron's influence and gets a new body? There should be) and caused a load of cheap repaints in the early 2000s. 1) BW IIWe covered this last week. Superb toy. Works by itself, works conceptually as a Megatron upgrade and is Japanese toy madness personified.
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Post by legios on Jul 14, 2014 19:11:29 GMT
Week 59: Universe 2
5. Cyclonus: Great fun toy, with a really good humanoid mode which evokes the spirit of the original nicely. Shame the aerospace fighter mode is not as sleek and aerodynamic-looking as the original, but to compensate he comes with a rather nice Targetmaster
4. Tread Bolt: Classic Jetfire, with a redeco in Blue Angels colours... sold!
3. Roadbuster: Another outing for the Exigeyzer mould, and I can't think of a more fitting Autobot to be rebooted in this form. Between the turret, the integrated Itano Circus launchers and the combat knife, the mould really lives up to Roadbusters' "carry lots of guns" approach, and the colours look really good on it.
2. Acid Storm: A wonderfully strange redeco on an already rather good mould. Not quite my favourite of the Classics/Universe F-15's but a real contender just based on the only-just-out-of-placeness of the colour scheme
1. Darkwing: Universe Silverbolt, redecoed as a homage to one of the Godmaster brothers... That would have been me sold right off the bat right there. (Sure, in an ideal world he would be a british designed aircraft like he was the first time, but I can be magnanimous and let that slide... :-) ). But just to add to matters this is a great toy. Lots of fun to transform, very wooshable, and has a really nice gun ( and a great way of storing it in the alt-mode). Probably my favourite deco on this mould, and the one that is being retained in my collection.
Karl
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Post by legios on Jul 16, 2014 18:47:55 GMT
Week 61: 1998 Toys
5. Starscrem and BB: I will admit that some of my love of this show is coloured by my love of their characters in the BWII show, but leaving that aside this remains a marvelous redeco of a much underappreciated toy. Love the design, both from the point of view of aesthetics and with the way that the two dock together and BB has a great fun missile launcher.
4. Thrust: Ow, my eyes! A bright yellow F-22 with black trim... Why thizzz iz not Wazpinator vehicle mode? Why univerzzze zo unfair?! A cracking redeco of the flipchanger mould - eye-catching, striking, and with not a pretence to its name of trying to blend in. Love it.
3. Moon: Moon is at number 3? Moon did not expect to be at number 3! Ooo, is anyone eating that scone? It would be really nice with jam! Moon, a bright yellow rendition of the rabbit which in Chinese mythology (exported to Japan) lives on the moon and benefits from the peaches of immortality. Bright yellow, blue ears, and wiIth a slide-show in his chest and a humanoid mode which looks like it was drawn on an etch-a-sketch. Bonkers, utterly bonkers. Artemis, what does bonkers mean? It means you Moon. *munch* *munch* Moon ith bonkerth! *munch munch*
2. Helscream - A cyborg shark... Not a bad alt-mode for a Destron at all, and such a good remould and redeco. Absolutely gorgeous in both modes.
1. Galvatron: A lavender coloured Emperor of Destruction, who has the good grace to bring a couple of hatchets as his close-combat weapons (a nice bit of diversity at the time, and still not that common). His drill-tank mode is great fun, if rather odd-looking. But the real prize here is the Doom-Chicken-Dragon mode. Yes, I know it is supposed to be an Occidental Dragon, but the shape of it is so reminiscent of a chicken that I can't get that thought out of my head. It is such a fun toy to play with, and such a striking piece of design.
Karl
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Post by Bogatan on Jul 16, 2014 22:03:47 GMT
Week 62: GalvatronYour top 5 Galvatron toys please! 5. RID Galvatron - On the list more because I'm not a huge fan of any of the others than because I'm a huge fan of it. But I do prefer these colours over Megatrons. Had the odd experience of buy the Car Robots version of this and the RID Megatron on the same holiday in the US and the RID Megatron cost more than the imported Galvatron. 4. E Hobby Universe Galvatron, I quite like the mould I just wish it didn't fall apart so easily. The Challenge of Cybertron repaint is pretty good, but I'm a sucker for translucent figures. 3. Heroes of Cybertron- quite a nice little sculpt. 2. SG Galvatron - Galvatron well mostly Megatron has had a range of alt mode, all the guns and tanks and spaceships are fine, but helicopters and giant race cars always seem a bit odd, but for some reason helicopter Galvatron makes more sense to me than Helicopter Megatron. Plus this is SG so a rescue helicopter Galvatron makes sense. But even as regular evil Galvatron the Evac mould works surprisingly well. My only regret is that they didn't paint the rotor blades fluorescent orange to represent his cannon. 1. G1 Galvatron - I'm not really a huge fan of this toy, but I still think its the best of the Galvatrons. Arm articulation is good for the day and it has nice proportions and fun light and sounds, the reissue with cartoon accurate colours looks far more interesting. My main issue with it, probably my only one is that its too big. I suppose it was designed to be Ultra Magnus nemesis and together they look okay, but Magnus is a small dude in armour and Rodimus who is his other major enemy is tiny in comparison. Galvatron was the first example of this (well shockwave but not seeing that toy in person till many years later means it wasn't) but it has always annoyed me. The Autobots generally get a sensibly sized boss with optional power up while the decepticons get some huge guy. Scorponok and Overlord aside it just doesnt work for me. Rodimus and Galvatron Thunderclash and Skyquake RID Prime and Megatron Armada Prime and Megatron (actually not to oversized) Energon Prime and Megatron (the voyager version is a perfectly sensible size for Megatron) Cybertron Prime and Megatron (the most oversized toy of them all) Animated Prime and Megatron Er sorry rant over. Back on topic I would love about a 3/4 size version of Galvatron. About the same size as Rodimus, who would need his trailer cannon to beat him and bigger than small Ultra Magnus who would need to armour up to beat him. Add more articulation and release it as a Generations voyager and jobs done.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 17, 2014 6:27:41 GMT
Thursday Tease:
It's nearly Time to not quite listen to one of the biggest selling UK Albums ever. But which toys will be on the Money for you this week?
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 17, 2014 7:45:04 GMT
Rodimus and Galvatron Thunderclash and Skyquake RID Prime and Megatron Armada Prime and Megatron (actually not to oversized) Energon Prime and Megatron (the voyager version is a perfectly sensible size for Megatron) Cybertron Prime and Megatron (the most oversized toy of them all) Animated Prime and Megatron I'll give you Galvatron, Skyquake and Cybertron Megatron - one of the worst non Movie Megatron's ever. The Energon Megatron is horribly oversized, i don't know what they were thinking resizing that toy when the Voyager was good enough. But the others are all in the Voyager to Ultra range and not much bigger, or in so case smaller, than the Optimus. And I think in some ways your Villain needs to be a little bigger to have a bullying menacing presence. Am I remembering from somewhere that the Takara designers thought Rodimus should be three times the size and were forced to shrink it? EDIT: Yup, something like that: tfwiki.net/wiki/Hot_Rod_%28G1%29/toys#Notes
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Stomski
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Post by Stomski on Jul 17, 2014 8:28:32 GMT
G1 - Reissue! Slightly odd shade of purple (would prefer it darker), but we get an awesome Japanese soundchip and a matrix of leadership, take that Ultra Magnus! 3 modes, one being a gun gives some fun play for kids. And lights! BWII - Discussed previously. RiD - Stangely the original Megatron was in purple more associated with Galvatron! I love this figure, even though all the alt-modes are just a mass of repositioned limbs. It looks excellent in the white colours and we now get extra official alt modes. Elephant FTW! Cybertron - Shiny repaint of a big bad chunky race car of doom. Energon - Clearly the original was meant to be Galvatron and we now have it in the correct colours.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 17, 2014 10:24:30 GMT
RiD - Stangely the original Megatron was in purple more associated with Galvatron! I love this figure, even though all the alt-modes are just a mass of repositioned limbs. It looks excellent in the white colours and we now get extra official alt modes. Elephant FTW! Actually you can make all the additional modes with the RID Megatron. There's a retool between CR Gigatron (Megatron) and Devil Gigatron (Galvatron) that the RID Megatron inherits. So Toy | Colour | Remould | Gigatron | Black | No | Devil Gigatron | White | Yes | Megatron | Black | Yes | Galvatron | White | Yes |
So essentialy Devil Gigatron and Galvatron are the same but there's a mould difference between Gigatron & Megatron: tfwiki.net/wiki/Megatron_%28RID%29The toy actually received a very slight retool to accommodate this fourth form: a pair of tabs were added to that allow the mammoth's "trunk" to clip securely into place, which merely hangs loose if one attempts to configure the original Gigatron into this form Energon - Clearly the original was meant to be Galvatron and we now have it in the correct colours. Indeed the Superlink version, the Voyager, was released first and named Galvatron.
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Stomski
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Post by Stomski on Jul 17, 2014 12:47:03 GMT
Actually you can make all the additional modes with the RID Megatron. Why I stated "official" alt-modes as they were now included in the instructions, whereas they weren't for Megs.
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Post by legios on Jul 17, 2014 19:42:57 GMT
Week 62: Galvatron
Exiled to the 46th Level: Universe II Galvatron - there are times when you just have to admit "we can't make this at that size because of engineering issues" and just abandon the idea. Just doesn't work as a deluxe, I would rather it had not been done at all if that was the only alternative.
Bubbling under: Botcon Galvatron - the Live Convoy mould is great, and this colour scheme does look quite good on it. Unfortunately it doesn't really feel like a terrifying Decepticon leader to me so it doesn't make the grade.
5. Armada Galvatron: Armada Megatron is a great fun toy, with lots of fun action features. It may not have the impact as a display piece that some things do but it really felt like the design philosophy was "is this fun to play with?". Galvatron takes that great toy and gives it a redeco in a white (arctic colours, so far so sensible) and purple (purple? Ok, sense is leaving the building) deco which is really striking and quite memorable. Leaving aside the unfortunate interactions with the rude mode which have already been covered, this is a very nice redeco and does a nice job of feeling like a very different toy even whilst being exactly the same as Megatron.
4. RID Galvatron: The Devil Gigatron/Megatron mould is immense fun with a plethora of modes, lots of detail to make it visually rich, and more articulation than you can shake a stick at. Galvatron takes a mould that was already great fun and gives it a striking bone-white and black colour scheme. Striking, impressive, fun to play with.
3. Superlink General Galvatron: Some things are meant to be a particular size, and just like Battletech's Phoenix Hawk IIC is a travesty for weighing 80tons and pretending to be a successor to the 45ton original, this mould was never meant to be the size it was originally released in Energon at. At this size however it's true glory is revealed. The spacecraft-thingy mode is great, with some strong raptor stylings, and the humanoid mode is a worthy tribute to the original Galvatron. They toy has a suitably impressive array of weapons for an Emperor of Destruction. Yes, the "I wear a tank on my arm to shoot things" makes no sense, but who wants to be the one to go and have that conversation with Galvatron? This version also gives it the Sunbow Galvatron colour-palette and, unlike Sunbow (imho) makes the scheme work really well.
2. Beast Wars II Galvatron: The Doom-Chicken returns. A marvellous toy I was extooling the virtues of in my last post. Three great modes, with the drill-tank being visually a nice homage to the original's artillery mode. Great fun, slightly bonkers, and a genuinely wonderful toy.
1. "The Transformers" Galvatron: The original, the well-spring of power and madness from which all Galvatrons do draw... Fantastic toy, and one that I had endless fun with as a child. I will admit to being influenced by Target:2006 in the way I regarded him in my original collection - a wild card who could battle my mightiest Decepticon or Autobot toys at the drop of a hat in pursuit of some nebulous objective only he possibly understood... So much play value, three great modes (the gun mode makes one feel like a Targetmaster when one is a youngster), electronic sounds, and all the articulation you need to pulverise other Transformers with style. A sure-fire winner.
Karl
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 17, 2014 23:33:08 GMT
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 18, 2014 8:12:14 GMT
Honourable mentions: Rodimus & Ironhide from the giftsets and Human Alliance Sandstorm5) PowerglideYour G1 plane at about the right size with not too much Bay styling. Very nice. it'll be interesting to compare the new Legend to this. 4) GuzzleThe first Nick Roche inspired figure :-) 3) Cyberverse Bumblebee BaseThe Cyberverse bases are a mixed kettle of fish but TBH they probably got it right straight out of the box with this solid piece of plastic that transforms into a battle station. I have two. 2) ShockwaveOf all the toys that have featured in the Movies Shockwave's is probably the best. It IS obviously Shockwave. One of the best lightpipes ever too. 1) SkyhammerSuperb helicopter that looks more regular TF style than Bayverse in it's robot mode so much so that Botcon repurposed it as MW Sandstorm. I believe some TRUs have it silly cheap recently and if so it's well worth picking up. About to get a repaint in the AOE line too.....
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Post by legios on Jul 22, 2014 19:39:47 GMT
Week 63: Dark of the Moon
What's that you say? You say we are talking about DOTaMAn toys?
HA! Ok then, I'll talk about DOTaMan toys!
5. Shockwave: I didn't care a jot for Shockwave in the film, he had no intelligible dialogue ("raaah" doesn't count, even if it was the only thing he said I could hear properly) and wasn't actually a character. Fortunately he translated into a pretty good toy. The general aesthetic is right - monocular head with twin antennae, mean-looking gun for a hand, purplish and solidly built. A decent job. I'm...less of a fan of the thing mode. It joins a long line of tank designs which I find aesthetically wrong but content myself with the thought that any opponent is going to feel worse about its pointing at them than I do about its existence... All told though, a rather fun toy.
4. Air Raid: No, not that one. Or that one, or that one. Or that one for that matter. This is the one that is a completely new mould. And an unusual choice of mould it is too. Airborne Warning and Control aircraft are not something that comes up that often in Transformers terms. Apart from a couple of PCC drones I am hard-pressed to think of any (Sunrunner doesn't count seeing as he is missing the AWACS gear). The aircraft mode of Air Raid is rather nice - a pretty good rendition of the JSDF E-767 and whilst not "realistic" the green colour scheme is rather nice. The humanoid mode is rather good too, an unusually lanky and tall Autobot he has a nice fragility to him which gives him a bit of character - the way that the tail section ends one of his arms instead of a hand giving him a feeling of having a cluster of blade antenna for gathering intelligence rather than a fist for punching. One of the rare movie toys that I looked at and which instantly conveyed a character to me. Also wins the bonus point for "unexpected flying mode".
3. Gyberverse Guzzle: Another one which eschews the movie aesthetic rather, giving us a good solid looking rendition of Guzzle, who is very much a technological upgrade on the ol'Sparkabot. The humanoid mode clearly takes a lot of its inspiration from the IDW version of Guzzle, fortunately in this case it is inspiration from a design I rather like. He looks like he is comprised of fairly solid slabs of armour, and comes equipped with a couple of nice little weapons. The vehicle mode is pretty much as you would expect - being almost the same vehicle as the original toy (there isn't a heck of a lot of difference externally between an M1A1 and an M1A2). Great little toy, a lot of fun.
2. Cyberverse Powerglide: Wonderful small-scale toy which feels much more like a stab at a proper Powerglide than it does a "movieverse" Powerglide. The transformation is fun, and the enormous collection of Boom that he comes with looks marvelous hung under the wings of his A-10 mode. It looks like an A-10, is red and has a fairly Powerglide-ish head. Job well and truly done.
1. Skyhammer: Fantastic toy. The humanoid mode is great - another one that straddles the gap between the movie-aesthetic and a more traditional look. The Copter mode is marvelous, Blatantly taking inspiration from the D and E model Hind Gunship/Transport hybrids beloved of the Soviet-Bloc, only slimmed down and somewhat more svelte looking. The detachable missile launchers are rather nice, and the Mech-Tek weapon is fantastic on the humanoid mode. Wonderful toy, and one which I was greatly saddened to have to part with recently. One of the few movie toys I can genuinely say I regretted having to place in the donation pile.
Karl
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