Studio Series #45 Drift (Helicopter)

Drift's sudden and unexpected appearance in Age of Extinction had at least a modicum of fanfare because Paramount had somehow convinced Ken Watanabe to lend his voice to the character. He ended up with little to do, as the scripts still gave the majority of the dialogue to the human characters - pretty much all he did was spout some haiku, argue with Crosshairs and Hound, and fawn over Optimus Prime.

The big surprise was that, during a couple of sequences of the movie, he transformed not into his much-publicised Bugatti Veyron vehicle mode, but a sci-fi (possibly even Cybertronian) helicopter. It wasn't mentioned, let alone referenced as being unusual in any way, it was just another throwaway bit of CGI trickery in a movie series that had already stopped giving a damn about consistency.

Hasbro's response was to release a separate One Step Changer for each vehicle mode, and repaint Dark of the Moon Skyhammer as a Voyager class companion to their Deluxe class Veyron Drift. I don't think anyone actually expected to see a Triple-Changer movie Drift toy, but none of the available options really looked a great deal like what was (briefly glimpsed) on screen...

Cue Studio Series, with a new take on helicopter Drift, derived from the (not especially well-received) helicopter Dropkick mold...

Generation 1 Sunstreaker Knockoff

When the toys that later became known as TransFormers Generation 1 first hit the shelves, there were many larger toys that I was unable to obtain. They were plentiful enough in toy shops - I have fond memories of visiting toyshops in South Harrow and Ealing Broadway, as well as the massive Tesco superstore in Wembley/Neasden which was always very well-stocked - but, at the time, I just couldn't afford more than one of the Diaclone-derived figures every few months on my pocket money.

This has naturally led me, later in life, to seek out some of the figures I missed out on. Just as naturally, original G1 toys from those days are frequently in a poor state due to having been extensively played with - chipped paint and worn stickers, at the very least - and several were notorious for breaking, not least Mirage with his fragile waist joint. While some original figures have been re-released in Takara's TransFormers Collection/Encore or Hasbro's Commemorative Series and Platinum Edition, several molds are long known to have either gone missing, or become degraded beyond repair, meaning several key figures will never see a re-release.

However, Knockoffs have been springing up, including some of those supposedly missing or irretrievable molds. This one appeared on eBay mid-2019, listed as a genuine G1 toy but, since Sunstreaker is one of those that cannot be given an official re-release, and the chances of finding one still sealed in his box are beyond slim, the simple fact that this existed, and was priced at a mere £30 was enough to prove, sight unseen, that this was a knockoff. Since I already have a KO G1 Mirage, and its quality is impressive, I figured I may as well give this a spin...

Binaltech BT09 Swindle

If BT05 Dead End seemed like a weird - not to say controversial - choice for the first Decepticon to appear in the Binaltech ranks, the second provoked a reaction no less angry. When the photos emerged, fans expected this variation on the Jeep Wrangler to become Trailbreaker - which made a certain amount of sense - but the finished figure ended up instead as everyone's favourite Combaticon con-man. According to TFWiki, the change of character came as a result of trademark issues, and originated in the Alternators line, rather than being another example of Takara attempting to subvert expectations.

Swindle having originally been a military jeep, this actually works pretty well on the surface... but let's take a closer look.