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Post by Bogatan on Aug 21, 2014 19:32:35 GMT
Week 67: Transformers Prime
My top 3 came to me pretty quickly, after that it becomes a struggle, plenty of good toys, but non of them really stand out of from the pack to me.
Completing for 4th and 5th spots Ratchet, Wheeljack, Cyberverse Skyquake, Terrorcon Cliffjumper, NYCC Bumblebee and Arcee.
3 Breakdown - Shame it didn't get a western release, but I can see why, its basically a deluxe but would have had to be sold as a voyager. All the same its a great mould.
2. Bulkhead (1st Edition) - Just makes the standard voyager look terrible in comparison. I wasn't too fussed about racking down most of the 1st editions but Bulkhead was a must have. Manages to sit just as comfortably among Classics/generations as it does Prime toys.
1 Vehicon/Air Vehicon - after nearly 3 dacades for a Transformers transformation to surprise me is tough. So I really wasnt expecting Vehicon to blow my mind in the way it did. The leg transformation is one of the most clever and fun approaches I can remember. That combined with the general creepy design makes it one of my favourite moulds of the last 5 years at least. If theres one flaw it's the arms, if the budget/engineering had just allowed for the car door panel to fold over to fill out the lower arm as a few other prime figures do, it would have been nearly perfect.
Botcon Pounce and Wingspan really show off the mould better than the dark Vehicon versions, theres loads of detailing going on.
I think I'm leaning towards NYCC Bee and Arcee for 4th and 5th, even though I haven't opened them I just like the idea of a Bee Taxi and always like the pink repaints of Arcee, the 2007 movie deluxe in pink is one of my favourite movie toys and NYCC Arcee looks good.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 22, 2014 6:42:45 GMT
Well done Jim
Week 68: Emergency Services Vehicles
Your top 5 Transformer toys that turn into a vehicle used by one of the emergency services please.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 22, 2014 8:00:14 GMT
Honourable mentions: All Five G1 Protectobots. Even the one that's the wrong colour. Checkpoint - the idea of a Police Truck is a bit radio but it works. I suppose you could see it pulling a mobile command centre. And while we're on the subject of Police Trucks we should mention Brave Police's J-Decker (and it's combined components Duke-Fire & Gun-Max which form Fire-J-Decker) If they weren't in Takara's other Transforming Robot line but TFs they'd be in here. 5) G1 Red Alert... yes. a Lambo Firechief car. Mad. But it works. And the G1 Lambo mould is so so good. And they tried it again with Mach Alert as a Police Lambo in Car Robots/RID. 4) G1 RatchetThe best TF Ambulance. The repair bay really suits the character: you can easily lay your damaged robot on their instead of the chromed spike thing. 3) G1 ProwlCos. Decent car, articulation. Never beaten as a TF Police Car. 2) G1 InfernoBut, and I'm sorry Ian, in my mind G1 Inferno beats Prowl. Larger, similar articulation and the vehicle does more. Fabulous fire engine. But not the best Fire Engine because 1) Super Fire ConvoyIncredible toy. Superb Fire Engine with extending ladder and firing missiles. Good robot albeit with a tending to chip chrome chest. Amazing Super Robot.
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Post by Shockprowl on Aug 22, 2014 8:59:21 GMT
It's ok, Big Phil, I'll let you off 'cos you're pretty and give me stuff.
Emergency vehicles. Right then. Quite hard actually.
5. Sam's Club Prowl. Mold prob' works better as Red Alert/Fire Service, but I only own the Prowl version. It's all the little tools, feels like the mold can deal with all manner of emergency. Good rugged vehicle. I see this mold as a damage control engineer or something.
4. G1 Inferno. All round great fire engine toy. Big, strong, nice ladder. This is what Transformers are all about, surely. Everyday vehicles that turn into robots.
3. G1 Prowl. Sleek police car that looks like it means business. And this police car is the tactical genius second in command! Blew me away.
2. G1 Ratchet. He looks like a surgeon! With the screen infront of his 'face', great seperate repaire bay sled jobby. Excellent interesting character, like Hawkeye from M.A.S.H. Outstanding toy, desperate for the MP treatment, heck even a decent Classics update!
1. MP Prowl. Yes yes big surprise. But just look at him! LOOK AT HIM!!! As said for G1 Prowl, the Fairlady makes one freakin' brilliant police car. And this character, what else could he be other than a police car?
Bubbles under? All the Protectobots. They combine to form the ultimate emergency 'vehicle'! They're a great group of diverse vehicles.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 22, 2014 9:02:53 GMT
I had to think for a moment about which Prowl the Sam's Club one was so I've added a link to it.
Hang on a minute there: G1 Ratchet is better than G1 Prowl?
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Post by Shockprowl on Aug 22, 2014 9:04:38 GMT
As an all round 'emergency vehicle' yes he is. The repair sled, the screen...
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Gav
Drone
John Travoltage!
Posts: 2,047
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Post by Gav on Aug 22, 2014 10:01:47 GMT
Well done Jim Week 68: Emergency Services VehiclesYour top 5 Transformer toys that turn into a vehicle used by one of the emergency services please. 5: Hosehead - my first Headmaster as a child. 4: Siren - the colours! The Headmaster I never owned but still covet. 3: First Aid G1 - played with to destruction 2: Hot Spot G1- That tiny head! Mixing his body with the Defensor faceplate always made me laugh. 1: RID LEMON YELLOW PRIME - The greatest Transformers toy of all time.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 22, 2014 10:42:36 GMT
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Post by Shockprowl on Aug 22, 2014 16:35:37 GMT
WOOOOOO THAT'S YELLOW!!!
It's the yellowest thing I've ever seen!
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 22, 2014 16:50:20 GMT
If we ever did "Top 5 worst coloured TF Fire Engines" that'd be right up there.
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Jim
Thunderjet
Micromaster Backside Monitor
Now in glorious Ultra HD 4K
Posts: 4,870
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Post by Jim on Aug 22, 2014 22:48:31 GMT
Week 68: Emergency Services VehiclesYour top 5 Transformer toys that turn into a vehicle used by one of the emergency services please. So much to choose from and no easy checklist, so I'm bound to be missing something but here goes... 5. PCC Smolder - an evil fire brigade vehicle with axe minicon! 4. Micromaster Rescue Patrol - cheating a bit by including all four maybe, but they complement each other beautifully and are lovely little moulds. 3. United Artfire - never a fan of the G1 Inferno mould, but the Universe one is great and looks particularly good as Artfire. 2. RID Optimus Prime - magnificent super mode and highly playable fire engine. 1. G1 Red Alert - a fire chief's car which happens to be a Lamborghini Countach! You can't beat that! Bubbling under - MP Prowl (needed more paint apps, but a great figure), PCC Searchlight, Cybertron Evac, G1 Ratchet, Blades, First Aid... -Jim
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Post by legios on Aug 27, 2014 18:40:00 GMT
Week 68: Emergency Services Vehicles
5. Binaltech Prowl: Enjoyably different transformation schema, a really nice look in humanoid mode and a great head sculpt combine with a fantastic real-world inspired deco in vehicle mode to make a stand-out reinvention of Prowl. The colour scheme on the police version makes him extremely striking on the shelves (back when I had the Alternator version he was toting a pair of nightsticks looking like he was about to test out some silat baton techniques on a future prisoner who would have been better advised to stand down...)
4. "The Transformers" Red Alert: Hmm. Can any Fire Service really be handing out Countach's to its chiefs? (Officially I mean...)Probably not, but the colour scheme looks fantastic on the Diaclone Countach design, and he has a great visual solidity to him as a toy. The weapons that Red Alert come with look really good as well.
3. "The Transformers" Prowl: Really striking colour scheme on a very solid Diaclone-derived mould. Love the overall look of the thing, and the fact that the Japanese version blends in pretty well with Prefectural Police vehicles of the period is just the icing on the cake.
2. "The Transformers" Ratchet: Fantastic little vehicle mode. A great "only borderline" humanoid mode which really underlines the "robots from another planet" aspect, and a tracked repair bay into the bargain. Great stuff.
1. Super Fire Convoy - "I'm a Goldfish. Golf Ball!" Cracking looking toy, with some decent play value - missile launchers all along the ladder, a really good baseline humanoid mode, and a great "super" mode. Even manages to get a reasonable base mode out of the assortment of superparts. Such a really good characterful pair of head-sculpts as well.
Karl
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Post by Bogatan on Aug 27, 2014 19:48:46 GMT
Week 68: Emergency Service Vehicles
Argh... tough one G1 Streetwise - Being one of my first toys is the reason it's on the list, but it is a toy I have always enjoyed.
G1 Prowl - Still clearly remember getting classic Prowl and Wheeljack from Toymasters in the early 90s. I'd never seen either in person before. WJ was good, but Prowl was the one to wow me. I think my favourite diaclone mould.
MP Red Alert - Second favourite MP mould, blend of G1 robot toy and animation model isn't quite as good as Prowl and Red Alert is not as good as Sideswipe, at least not G2 Sideswipe, still great.
MP Prowl - Prowl and mould mate Silverstreak are my favourite MP mould, car modes look perfect and robot modes are the best blend of toy and animation robot that the line has produced so far. On top of that it's just a plain fun toy.
Clear Super fire Convoy - Henkei Crystal Convoy has a lot to answer for, before it I never had much interest in translucent versions of Transformers, but after getting one I got a bit addicted. Clear SFC might be one of my favourites. All the fun of the original, but then put a light behind it and boom!
Bubbling under: 2007 Movie Evac - I love this remould, 34 minor remoulds turn a super creepy Decepticon into a heroic Autobot, great colour scheme. Pyro, the rest of the Protectorbots, Actionmaster Inferno, Ratchet
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Post by Kingoji on Aug 28, 2014 8:08:48 GMT
5. Micromaster Rescue Patrol. Sold as a set, so I treat them as a set. 4. Deluxe Movie Barricade. One of the few movie toys I owned, and the best of the ones I did. I thought he was a better figure than the line deserved, tbh. 3. G1 Prowl. Self explanatory. 2. Voyager Optimus Prime (Animated). The only reason this doesn't take the top spot is because his fire engine mode has no real-world basis and is barely recognisable as such. The robot form however is one of, if not *the* strongest of that line. 1. Masterpiece Prowl. But only until they make Masterpiece Ratchet.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 28, 2014 14:05:03 GMT
No real tease today because I haven't 100% decided what tomorrow is going to be. I've got three ideas In Hand that I will Spring one of on you.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 29, 2014 7:08:48 GMT
Week 69: Transformers' Guns
No, not Transformers that turn into guns. Unless they're Targetmasters, Minicons or arms Microns.
What I mean is the guns that belong to Transformers. Which are your top 5 favourites?
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Post by Shockprowl on Aug 29, 2014 8:46:44 GMT
Ooh good one.
Weapons.
5 Scramble City limb vehicle cannons. Which designer thought it'd be a good idea to give the limb figures massive cannons in vehicle mode? They look bonkers, but so so totally awesome!!! So a slight cheat here, as I don't have an actual favorite, it's more the concept I like. Massive canons on an Ambulance- brilliant!
4 G1 Skids' weapons. For a scientist to have such a collection of weaponary is, perhaps, a bit strange first glance. But then if you think about it, maybe he outfitted himself with his weapons due to his desire to protect life. Anyway, electro-blaster, liquid nitrogen and some kind of a rocket launcher, all arm-mounted. Great collection of weapons.
3 Prowl's shoulder launchers. I love shoulder launchers, particularly double shoulder launchers, always have. Prowl's are a great example, and I particularly like the fact Prowl's fire incendiary missiles. An important factor in shoulder launchers is if they can fold out. Classics Prowl was a good effort, but MP does it great, although to get the full 'G1' look you need to add on the extra launchers, but I do quite like the original MP's launchers.
2 Optimus Prime's Laser Rifle- best version: MP-10. Such an iconic looking weapon, and MP-10's brilliantly folds out from a storage compartment on his back! MP-10's possibly looks a smidge small, in hand, but only a smidge.
1 Megatron's Fussion Canon! The fact the gun sight becomes a massive canon is genius design work by the G1 designers. Great idea, and as iconic as it gets! Best version so far... well not sure. G1 maybe. Classics wasn't bad, but it was on the wrong part of his arm. Hegemon is pretty good actually. Big MP couldn't put it on anything other than the upper aspect of his fore-arm, Megatron needs to be able to move it from upper aspect to outer aspect of his fore-arm to have all his correct looks. Any new MP must have this. And infact any new MP, whatever alt form it has (tank etc) must have a G1y gun-sight style canon!
Bubbles? Soundwave's weapons, MP takes them to the max. G1 Astrotrain, Mirage, Wheeljack, Jazz and Shrapnel's weapons pop into my head. The Strike Plane's arm canons look great.
KAA-BOOOM!!!!!
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 29, 2014 13:03:34 GMT
No, not weapons. Very specifically Guns: Week 69: Transformers' GunsNo, not Transformers that turn into guns. Unless they're Targetmasters, Minicons or arms Microns. What I mean is the guns that belong to Transformers. Which are your top 5 favourites? I've got anoter week scheduled for the likes of swords and axes etc. And while we're on the subject.... Ooh good one.3 Prowl's shoulder launchers. I love shoulder launchers, particularly double shoulder launchers, always have. Prowl's are a great example, and I particularly like the fact Prowl's fire incendiary missiles. An important factor in shoulder launchers is if they can fold out. Classics Prowl was a good effort, but MP does it great, although to get the full 'G1' look you need to add on the extra launchers, but I do quite like the original MP's launchers. Missile Launchers are ALSO scheduled as a separate week so try to avoid missile launchers EXCEPT if the launcher is obviously a hand held gun. Metroplex is a good example. Overlord is another.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 29, 2014 13:27:09 GMT
Bubbling under: Pounce: I love the underslung blade/batonet. Fortress Maximus a big gun. Sixshot Just nice. Sludge Beaten by not one but two of his Dinobot colleagues 5) Mixmaster/DevastatorNice big gun that can be used by either the smaller or larger peg holes. 4) SideswipeA fab design. Really upset that MP Angry Bot didn't get to keep his original gun 3) Optimus PrimeNow here's an odd one: I think we'd all say Prime's gun is iconic but at the same time the toy one has it's faults: can't be held straght cos the post isn't at the back, a moulded handle is. What's going on there? It's been twisted and tweaked a few times. I've got a real nice 3P version modelled after the cartoon design. 2) SnarlFabulous long gun. Love it. 1) GrimlockLove Grimlock's double barreled gun, such a fabulous piece of kit and yet only AM Grimlock has anything approaching a gun that looks like it. So much so that FOC Grimlock looks positively naked without on which has led to some great 3P versions.
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Post by Pinwig on Aug 29, 2014 14:44:54 GMT
Love Grimlock's double barreled gun, such a fabulous piece of kit and yet only AM Grimlock has anything approaching a gun that looks like it. So much so that FOC Grimlock looks positively naked without on which has led to some great 3P versions. Absolutely. Mine is sporting this one from ArtTek. It's super chunky and goes well with the figure. Which reminds me. I must take a photo of my FoC 'Lock now I've finished upgrading him and upload it. I love that figure anyway, but with a bit of third party love I think he really shines. It's the main reason I'm still set on getting the Planet-X Dinobots rather than the Fansproject ones to give him some mates.
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Post by Shockprowl on Aug 29, 2014 15:34:57 GMT
Ooh my bad, Big Phil. Take Prowl's launchers out, and replace with Soundwave's rifle, best version: MP.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 29, 2014 16:09:37 GMT
I've got that and it's clear cousins
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Post by Pinwig on Aug 29, 2014 21:13:11 GMT
I liked the look of those, the red one looks like it would go with the sword, but being clear they lose the heavyweight big ass gun feel of the black one. And him Grimlock need big gun
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Post by legios on Aug 31, 2014 19:51:33 GMT
Actually my favourite of Grimlock's weapons is the missile launcher, which I have always assumed corresponds to the "Plasma Shell Shotgun" mentioned in his profile - I love the stubby look of it with its implication that Grimlock has brought a Sawn-off Shotgun to proceedings, East End Gangster Stylee... (Not that I would ever speculate that Grimlock might have once had a shady past pulling Bank blags when he was temporarily down on his luck before the war or anything...).
Still working on my list for this - it is proving quite difficult as there are quite a few nice items of ironmongery out there to be considered. Although some folks might be surprised to learn who isn't even in contention for the list - poor '85 Jetfire, saddled with Takatoku's terribly mess - probably the worst version of the GU-11 ever offered for sale, even including the one with the Crane Game prize Valks.
Karl
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 31, 2014 20:24:17 GMT
There are a great many TF guns: many we've just forgotton but some are memorable. I forgot to mention Sinnertwin's pistol: lovely little gun
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 5, 2014 6:34:06 GMT
Week 70: 2000 ToysYour top 5 toys released in the year 2000 please. We're talking TM2 in the UK, Beast Macxhines in the US and Car Robots in Japan See www.tfu.info/year/00index.htm for help
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 5, 2014 8:04:46 GMT
Contrary to what you might think there were some good TFs released in the US during 2000. From Beast Machines we have Jetstorm, Obsidian & Skydive. And I even quite like the Optimus given a few years distance now it's not shelf warming. Yes it looks nothing like the Optimus in the show or any other past Optimus. Then there's a few gems in the US' repaint frenzy: T-Wrecks especially, the best that toy has ever looked, and the rest of the Dinobots, but also FK TM Waspinator a triumph under the "repaint it what is should look like" rule creating a TM Buzzsaw. But Car Robots is where it is for me this year. Gelshark really spruces up a toy I thought was dreadful in it's original colours. Indy Heat may not have been the deco I wanted for the MW race car but it's very nice as are Clear Indy Heat and Clear Wrecker Hook. Buildking is nice but could have done with the green excavator using the same body as the other limb parts and JRX is fabulous. But the top 5 looks like this: 5) SpeedbreakerFabulous toy: BW technology applied to cars. Fiendishly hard to transform at times. 4) Mach AlertFinally Transformers gets a Lambo police car! 3) God MagnusLike Galvatron two years previously you forget now what a big thing this toy was: the first all new Magnus since the original. A more realistic car carrier vehicle, an "interesting" transformation and combinational ability. 2) Super Fire ConvoyI'M A GOLDFISH, TRANSFORM! I love my Super Fire Convoy. Just a fabulous toy. For years I'd have said it was my favourite toy this year and indeed it's my favourite original toy this year but ... 1) Brave MaximusI love Fort Max. But as you'll know us Brits could never get him. So when he was recoloured as the last Car Robots toy even without his weapons I jumped on him. Just so much fun is packed into that body: elevators, launcher ramps, a control tower for the Headmaster to sit in and a brilliant night city colour scheme. When I sold mine it was something I regretted quickly afterwards. Fortunately ToyFu set me up with a replacement a few years ago complete with repro sword and I then got some repro guns for it. Everyone needs a Max and this one is my favourite.
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Post by legios on Sept 8, 2014 20:37:46 GMT
I seem to have fallen a little behind due to various personal circumstances getting in the way. The 2000 toys will need some careful consideration, as it is with that years toys, pretty much, that I drifted back into Transformers collecting and I want my list to do them justice. But in the meantime, we need guns- lots of guns...
Week 69: Transformers' Guns
Bubbling under: lots and lots and lots. To name a few, Dinobot guns (in general, Dinobots know how to rock the heavy firepower), Laser Rod Prime's double-barrelled Decepticon-mower, Mirage's rifle ( a lovely delicate looking affair which helps to sell his characterisation as the sort of person who would bring a sporting rifle to a war).
5. RiD Wind Sheer's "Machine Pistol": Yes, this weapon debuted back in Machine Wars, but the black version issued here is the nicest of the lot. Lovely two-piece accessory which has a neat "leg-holster" storage (I love that kind of idea, whether it is on a VF-17, an Ingram Patlabor, or a Robocop). The design of it is very reminiscent of the Ingram/Cobray MAC-10 and MAC-11 machine pistols beloved of evil henchmen in the 80's and early 90's - right down to it having a large removable suppressor to - in this case - make it a little less earsplitting at a distance of twelve blocks... Lovely looking little gun, gives its owner a nicely "thuggish" look appropriate to a rank and file Decepticon.
4. Sideswipe's Laser Gun: I really like the look of this - it has very "classic laser-gun" lines to it, but with a nice sort of carbine proportion to it which fits nicely with the feel of Sideswipe as someone who is going to want to get up close and personal with his fights wherever he can.
3. Overlord's Rifle: You wouldn't necessarily think that between the Chokon-Bolter, a missile launcher and his tank-modes 200-odd mm gun that Overlord needed any more firepower. He apparently begs to differ, bringing a nice chunky rifle to the fight. Lovely looking gun, with a feature that surprisingly few TF Rifles ever have - a carrying handle up top. Definitely looks the business.
2. Jazz's Photon Rifle: Another classicly high-tech looking gun, great lines to it - and I rather like the fact that Jazz has got a nice shiny chromed gun to be waving around. It feels like the sort of thing he would be very proud to show off in a "I sprung for the chrome finish and the titanium inlaid grips, ain't it sweet" kind of way.
1.Optimus Prime's Blaster: It is one of those iconic weapons, one that is almost instantly recogniseable whenever you see it. True, the original toy cannot hold it quite properly due to an unfortunate flaw in its design. But viewed on its own it is a superb looking weapon which is very visually distinctive. I am torn here between the more interestingly designed Diaclone original, with the stepped down barrel which gives it a precision look to it, and the MP-10 version which corrects the unfortunate hand-grip issues but at the cost of giving it a blunt, "coke-can" barrel which makes it look more like a brute-force instrument. They are both valid interpretations of one of the iconic weapons in Transformers.
Karl
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 11, 2014 7:39:14 GMT
Top 5 Toys Thursday Tease:
Are you worried that this week's toy is out to get you?
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Post by legios on Sept 11, 2014 19:26:00 GMT
Week 70: 2000 Toys
The Space Year 2000...
So many good toys, where on Earth to start...
Bubbling Under: BM Obsidian (great little toy, immense play value), CR JRX (perhaps the last truly evolutionary combiner - after that we have mostly just seen variants on older technology I feel), the BM Dinobots (great molds with fantastic colour schemes), Indy Heat and Wrecker Hook. Gelshark. The CR Car Brothers...
5. Build Cyclone - a toy that I just fell in love with once I got a chance to play around with. His transformation is quite fun and his vehicle mode has some play value with the rotating crane section. In his humanoid mode he feels like the teams marksman, given that his crane section unfolds into something that has to be the Transformer equivalent of an Anti-materiel Rifle. I like his little sidearm as well. My only real regret is that his head design doesn't allow him to be posed in the "down behind the scope" position which would have gone so well with that rifle.
4. Build Boy - my all-time favourite of the Build Team. A neat little toy who looks good, and has a lot of "fiddle factor". He's the sort of toy which would have got endless play when I was a youngster, and used to come down from adult-Karl's shelf a lot for idle messing about with when I was reading and things. Wonderfully articulated for a small toy as well, which adds to his level of fun.
3. BM Jetstorm (Deluxe): The actual, specific toy which got me back into Transformers. I picked up Deluxe Jetstorm along with two other BM toys one lunch hour, opened them up on the way back to the office and had a fiddle around with them when no-one was looking during the afternoon. The other two were alright, but Jetstorm was the one that really caught my attention. The humanoid mode is a bit ungainly in some respect - with the large arms weighed down a but by kibble, but that is because Jetstorm doesn't want to be sitting on the desk - he was made to fly... I actually quite like the humanoid mode, with the weapons recessed into his forearms, and the non-humanoid head peering evilly down from his shoulders. But his fighter mode is a thing of beauty. Rolling him over shows how fantastic his design is - so many Transformer aircraft are designed on the basis of "anything you can't see from directly above doesn't matter, and hence have all sorts of random kibble all over the place. Deluxe Jetstorm eschews this and an actual attempt is made to find places to fold all the various parts in so that it feels like they are designed to blend smoothly into the fighter mode. Even the feet make some concessions to getting out of the way of the airflow. Sure, the wings are disproportionately small in terms of the their ability to generate lift, but even that gives me a sense of character - it makes me feel like Jetstorm is not a graceful soarer on the winds, but rather a firm believer in the "enough thrust" school of aviation design. It was Jetstorm who did the business in making me feel I wanted to buy more new Transformer toys, and led directly to my buying my first imported toys. (Oh, look who are up in the next two slots... what a coincidence...).
2. CR Fire Convoy - A superb toy, a really good "standard mode" humanoid form - with a wonderful feeling somehow of being a "streamlined" Convoy, a cracking Super-mode which has great play value and a fun vehicle mode. A fire engine Convoy seems terribly appropriate somehow. And just to top things off it has a decent base mode, and can combine with God Magnus to form God Fire Convoy, a toy with phenomenal shelf-presence. (God Fire Convoy, surprisingly shares something in common with one other toy - both it and a Talking La-La Tellytubby have come within a matter of inches of causing me significant headtrauma by taking a header off the top of a bookcase, leaving them tied for joint second place in the "toys which have injured Karl" stakes, trailing the only toy to actually cause me an injury).
1. CR Black Convoy - A repaint of my favourite Optimus Prime toys of the pre-beast wars era. A trend-setter whose example would lead to a whole slew of less impressive imitators. My joint first imported toy. The Anti-Prime. Black Convoy. Absolutely fantastic toy. A wonderful colour scheme, which works really well on the vehicle mode (the chrome trailer is very striking indeed). Pretty much all the play value of Laser Rod Prime from his wonderful arsenal of accessories. A humanoid mode which really looks powerful and fearsome. And to top it off he remains my favourite "Evil Prime" toy for reasons of the knock-on effects of a cost-saving measure. Sure, we have had plenty of "colour an Optimus black and make it evil" Optimus Prime toys since then, but mostly these have been done as "Optimus Prime, only black and with Decepticon logos". Black Convoy however, because of the Autobot logos molded into Laser Rod Prime's discs (which they weren't going to remold given the budgetary constraints on Car Robots) had to take a different approach. Instead of Destron logos he carries inverted Cybertron Logos on his shoulders... This gives him a certain unique vibe to me - it isn't just that he is a Convoy who decided to go and play for the other team - instead his iconography seems to make a much more fundamental statement - "I am an anti-Cybertron. What you abhor, I exalt. What you exhalt, I abhor". It gives him the vibe of a 'bot who will set out to to destroy life just because the Cybertrons protect it. For me the defining feature of what makes Black Convoy such an effective "evil doppleganger" toy is not his colour - their being no reason a black toy should automatically be evil (after all the Action Force SAS Force figures were all in black and they were definitely the goodies) - but the fact that he seems to be determined to flaunt his rejection of the Cybertron code in front of all and sundry. It may have been a cost-cutting measure but in a happy accident it has given Black Convoy the extra edge to make him not just one of my favourite toys of this year, but arguably one of my favourite Transformers toys.
Hmm. I seem to have been quite chatty and gushy about this weeks toys. It doesn't entirely surprise me, it sits at the intersection of some very fine toylines indeed in my view.
Karl
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