Masterpiece Movie Series MPM-7 Bumblebee

Considering the prevalence of Bumblebee figures in all the live action movies' toylines, I made a decision very early on - after Age of Extinction, in fact - to be very selective of my Bumblebee purchases. Thus, I bought the original Studio Series Bumblebee because I felt it was a good way to close of my collection of Michael Bay-era Bumblebees (until the WWII version was announced, at least), and decided to preorder the gold, 'Retro Pop Highway' version of the Bumblebee movie figure simply because it was something different and special.

Around the same time, though, I caved in and decided that I did rather want a 'proper' version of the new yellow VW Beetle figure, and so ordered the Masterpiece version in the hope that it would serve as the definitive figure of the new CGI character, so I won't feel compelled to buy any others.

Black Mamba Deformation LS-01 Ares Nitrogen

Hasbro's Nitro (Zeus) figure, despite having a typically poor paint job, turned out to be one of my top figures of 2017, so when I learned that KO merchants/upscalers/upgraders Black Mamba were producing their own oversized version of the character, my interest was immediately piqued. A better paint job alone would make the figure worth a look, but the promise of making him larger, tweaking the engineering and adding a few die cast parts put 'Ares Nitrogen' firmly on my radar, and the first photos of the fully-painted figure rocketed him right to the top of my want list...

...But with Studio Series Thundercracker - based on the same mold - now available, is it worth tracking down an oversized upgrade on the original?

TransFormers Adventure TAV03 Strongarm

(Femme-Bot Friday #60)

When I wrote about the Prime of Micron version of Strongarm, last year, I noted that I didn't think Hasbro's Deluxe was worth considering and that the cost of importing Takara Tomy's was prohibitive given that it's the same toy, just with a slightly improved paint job. Of course, that was before I realised that PoM version was smaller than a Deluxe and so not really the Strongarm figure I wanted either.

So, you know what that means, right..?

MCM London Comic Con - Hasbro Display & Sunday Panel

OK, so Studio Series Devastator was a pleasant surprise... I'm now glad I didn't buy the colossal non-transforming electronic brick version after all... But that particular event-exclusive reveal wasn't the only bit of news, either from the Hasbro/TransFormers panel this afternoon, or the Hasbro booth - the first time they've done such a thing at a UK show, as far as I can recall.

The stand itself was split between Hasbro's Marvel, Star Wars and TransFormers products (interestingly, with the first two currently owned by Disney, I almost wonder why Disney didn't pick up TransFormers when a cinematic outing was first pitched). I had a brief look at the other bits and bobs (the electronic Infinity Gauntlet, Black Panther Mask and a more detailed, multi-part Darth Vader helmet being the highlights) and of course there was a small display of War for Cybertron stuff... but that was even more disappointing than I'd expected. 'Voyager class' Optimus Prime is positively miniscule, little bigger than a Deluxe from a few years back. Megatron looks worse in person than he did in photos, and the rest of the display amounted to Hound, Sideswipe, Cog and Flywheels. That's significantly less than they've revealed between the New York and Paris Comic Cons already, and seems like a pretty poor showing, under the circumstances.

I'll Just Leave This Here...

Yes, it's a terrpible photo... but that there is the upcoming Studio Series Revenge of the Fallen Devastator (wrecking balls not included - someone asked specifically). A few more bits and bobs to come...

Generations (30th Anniversary) Crosscut

The Generations/30th Anniversary toy of Skids was a surprise on many levels - not least that it happened at all. Along with Generations Springer, it seemed to show, at the time, that Hasbro were paying attention to IDW's output and tailoring their output (to a degree) toward those who appreciated the ongoing comic book narrative. While I hadn't intended to buy Skids for various reasons, he ended up being an impulse buy while on holiday a few years ago and I really liked what Hasbro had done to update and improve what had been a fairly poor G1 toy.

G1 Crosscut, meanwhile, was an e-HOBBY exclusive with a 'new' (that is, derived from one of the alternative Diaclone versions of the mold) head sculpt so, when Hasbro announced a Generations version, with a head styled after the original figure applied to the new Skids mold, the fact that I'd enjoyed Generations Skids so much put Crosscut straight onto my want list.