Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2013 20:28:06 GMT
Earlier in the year I asked on these boards for some good Kindle TF comics to take to Afghanistan. I ended up buying nearly everything that they sold but the one that got away was 'The Last stand of the Wreckers'. It's frequently held up as a firm favourite amongst fans but there is sadly no Kindle edition. I figured with my op bonus I would invest in the hard back version when I returned from tour and see what all the fuss is about.
I got the bug...
I've set out to build a solid Wrecker crew and the following post details my progress with some attached notes. What I would really appreciate is some pointers on where to go from here. I'll pose the specifics of what I'm thinking as I go through but thus far, my 'cast' is as follows:
Starting with Springer, who I wasn't really in to when I ordered him but when he arrived and I started working out some decent poses, I warmed to the figure. Then with the Dr. Wu Rain Storm blaster and the Reprolabels added, I think he comes out as one of the best figures in my collection. The minigun (nano-bot launcher) was especially tricky to mount in his hands two-handed as the pose requires an overhand grip ideally. The carry handle is in two detachable pieces. Eventually I managed to get it to stay together with him having is left hand in a vertical grip. It's not perfect but it looks the part. The blur on the close-up accidentally gives a sense of motion too. There's not a lot else I want to do to him now. I actually bought the Takara version at the same time (an accidental pre-order I'd forgotten I'd made) but, unlike most Japanese re-colours, there wasn't any noticeable improvement on both Springer and Blitzwing. I've left them packaged...
Next up, the oft-associated Magnus. I found a KO Fansproject City Commander for a reaonable price so took a gamble. With the reprolabels, Paralax upgrade kit and Perfect Effect backpack, he's quite an impressive figure. I bought the Platinum Magnus with the intention of using the Forge of Solus for this figure but it doesn't sit in the hand properly and instead has some dodgy handles. I'm now waiting on the Dr Wu Full Xmas Gear pack.
Next up is the venerable Kup. With the addition of the iGear head upgrade and a Wrecker Reprolabel, there's nothing else needed. His shotgun sits well in his hands so I didn't feel the need to swap it. I've contemplated taking the 'doors' off his arms but it might unbalance the figure.
I'll get Perceptor out of the way next as he's my least favourite member of the squad sadly. The figure is the Keith's Fantasy Club Mugan Scope and weighed in at a hefty $75 for something that's about the size of a G1 Optimus but a third of the weight. It feels poorly made and it was no surprise to me when I took him out of his bag and his arm dropped off. Dropped off. either it was broken when it went out of the factory or someone returned it to BBTS after breaking it. Inside the break appears to be, what looks like, super glue resin(!). All told, not a good purchase. I also bought the black variant but that'll stay boxed up to re-sell to some faceless fanatic in a year or so. Note the absence of any Wrecker glyphs... it doesn't deserve it. I've had a few other KFC pieces and not been overly impressed so I'll probably avoid them for a while.
Now for a little bit of retro: The original Rotorstorm. I have two of him so I'm contemplating chopping the second one up to improve the articulation. Quite a big project but other than that, I'm not sure where to go. I've seen a custom 'Wrecker Strategician' on another site but I'm not sure of the difficulty of building my own custom. I worked for Games Workshop for a few years so I'm handy with the tools and paint but I'm not sure about things that aren't glued rigid...
Great light tunneling:
Next is Sandstorm. I only bought him because he was half price and he happens to be on the Wreckers list. He feels like a pale imitation of Springer (albeit with a nice head and solid build quality) so I've not really put too much effort in. The extra 'chunk' of his dirt car wheels make him very top heavy so I've given him FOC Sideswipe's gun to balance him out a bit. For the record, that particular gun is awesome and looks very good in the hands of some of the bigger units (like the aforementioned FP Magnus).
Now we have two of my favourite third-party figures, Mech Ideas' Jumpstarters, Twin Twist and Topspin. All I've done is added the Wreckers livery as the figures themselves are really nice. Twin Twist has his alternate head on and in my continuity, survived his torture at the hands of Stalker.
Next is a place-holder for Guzzle. I'm not impressed with the Cyberverse toy really so I'm waiting for Perfect Effect's 'Warden' to arrive as I feel it pulls off the 'over-sized cannon' look quite well and is more in line with the character's alt mode. Ideas on modding it to more closely resemble the Wrecker character?
Lastly we have the mighty Broadside in the guise of Fansproject's Assaulter. I've wanted this figure for a while and his mention on the Wreckers list gave me the excuse. The build quality cannot be overstated - the thing is tough. Easily the best 'cover' I have in my collection. Pictured here are his standard robot form, 'secret' robot form and his jet form. The spaceshipesque carrier mode isn't very solid but to be honest, it doesn't need to be. I haven't got the Reprolabels for this guy but it does look like a good set. I like that he's tall enough to be head and shoulders over the others.
...and that's it. I have the subscription figure Fisitron on pre-order although I'm looking for an alternate as I don't like the FOC Swindle it's based on. I can't find the animated version for sale anywhere either.
I've also got both G-11 Hunter Optimus Prime figures on pre-order with the intention of combining parts from both to make Pyro - I'm not going to be paying the crazy price for an original G2 version.
So... where now?
EDIT: Impactor! Come on iGear, get Presser made! I don't want to chop up Warpath...
I got the bug...
I've set out to build a solid Wrecker crew and the following post details my progress with some attached notes. What I would really appreciate is some pointers on where to go from here. I'll pose the specifics of what I'm thinking as I go through but thus far, my 'cast' is as follows:
Starting with Springer, who I wasn't really in to when I ordered him but when he arrived and I started working out some decent poses, I warmed to the figure. Then with the Dr. Wu Rain Storm blaster and the Reprolabels added, I think he comes out as one of the best figures in my collection. The minigun (nano-bot launcher) was especially tricky to mount in his hands two-handed as the pose requires an overhand grip ideally. The carry handle is in two detachable pieces. Eventually I managed to get it to stay together with him having is left hand in a vertical grip. It's not perfect but it looks the part. The blur on the close-up accidentally gives a sense of motion too. There's not a lot else I want to do to him now. I actually bought the Takara version at the same time (an accidental pre-order I'd forgotten I'd made) but, unlike most Japanese re-colours, there wasn't any noticeable improvement on both Springer and Blitzwing. I've left them packaged...
Next up, the oft-associated Magnus. I found a KO Fansproject City Commander for a reaonable price so took a gamble. With the reprolabels, Paralax upgrade kit and Perfect Effect backpack, he's quite an impressive figure. I bought the Platinum Magnus with the intention of using the Forge of Solus for this figure but it doesn't sit in the hand properly and instead has some dodgy handles. I'm now waiting on the Dr Wu Full Xmas Gear pack.
Next up is the venerable Kup. With the addition of the iGear head upgrade and a Wrecker Reprolabel, there's nothing else needed. His shotgun sits well in his hands so I didn't feel the need to swap it. I've contemplated taking the 'doors' off his arms but it might unbalance the figure.
I'll get Perceptor out of the way next as he's my least favourite member of the squad sadly. The figure is the Keith's Fantasy Club Mugan Scope and weighed in at a hefty $75 for something that's about the size of a G1 Optimus but a third of the weight. It feels poorly made and it was no surprise to me when I took him out of his bag and his arm dropped off. Dropped off. either it was broken when it went out of the factory or someone returned it to BBTS after breaking it. Inside the break appears to be, what looks like, super glue resin(!). All told, not a good purchase. I also bought the black variant but that'll stay boxed up to re-sell to some faceless fanatic in a year or so. Note the absence of any Wrecker glyphs... it doesn't deserve it. I've had a few other KFC pieces and not been overly impressed so I'll probably avoid them for a while.
Now for a little bit of retro: The original Rotorstorm. I have two of him so I'm contemplating chopping the second one up to improve the articulation. Quite a big project but other than that, I'm not sure where to go. I've seen a custom 'Wrecker Strategician' on another site but I'm not sure of the difficulty of building my own custom. I worked for Games Workshop for a few years so I'm handy with the tools and paint but I'm not sure about things that aren't glued rigid...
Great light tunneling:
Next is Sandstorm. I only bought him because he was half price and he happens to be on the Wreckers list. He feels like a pale imitation of Springer (albeit with a nice head and solid build quality) so I've not really put too much effort in. The extra 'chunk' of his dirt car wheels make him very top heavy so I've given him FOC Sideswipe's gun to balance him out a bit. For the record, that particular gun is awesome and looks very good in the hands of some of the bigger units (like the aforementioned FP Magnus).
Now we have two of my favourite third-party figures, Mech Ideas' Jumpstarters, Twin Twist and Topspin. All I've done is added the Wreckers livery as the figures themselves are really nice. Twin Twist has his alternate head on and in my continuity, survived his torture at the hands of Stalker.
Next is a place-holder for Guzzle. I'm not impressed with the Cyberverse toy really so I'm waiting for Perfect Effect's 'Warden' to arrive as I feel it pulls off the 'over-sized cannon' look quite well and is more in line with the character's alt mode. Ideas on modding it to more closely resemble the Wrecker character?
Lastly we have the mighty Broadside in the guise of Fansproject's Assaulter. I've wanted this figure for a while and his mention on the Wreckers list gave me the excuse. The build quality cannot be overstated - the thing is tough. Easily the best 'cover' I have in my collection. Pictured here are his standard robot form, 'secret' robot form and his jet form. The spaceshipesque carrier mode isn't very solid but to be honest, it doesn't need to be. I haven't got the Reprolabels for this guy but it does look like a good set. I like that he's tall enough to be head and shoulders over the others.
...and that's it. I have the subscription figure Fisitron on pre-order although I'm looking for an alternate as I don't like the FOC Swindle it's based on. I can't find the animated version for sale anywhere either.
I've also got both G-11 Hunter Optimus Prime figures on pre-order with the intention of combining parts from both to make Pyro - I'm not going to be paying the crazy price for an original G2 version.
So... where now?
EDIT: Impactor! Come on iGear, get Presser made! I don't want to chop up Warpath...
Do not leave unattended! The light is diffracted by the side panels and gives nice all-over coverage. It's that strong that the built-in flash on my camera had only a negligible (and mostly negative) effect on the shots.
