...And Yet More Surprises

I just wish I could say they were pleasant.

So, first we have the revelation of a G1 toy-coloured version of Kingdom Galvatron - a toy that sold out on the UK branch of Hasbro Pulse within a couple of days of going live, despite its £59 ($82) price tag. I won't deny that the figure looks marginally better in the toy-accurate colourscheme, but the mold generally - and its alternate mode specifically - look utterly dire. Galvatron was a badly-designed character in the animated movie, not just because it looks nothing like the toy... and the sentiment works just as well the other way round. I will probably never understand the fixation on remaking a character like Galvatron in such a way as to make him more accurate to the ugly animation model, rather than just completely reinventing him into something that actually looks good in both modes, with perhaps a few nods to the animation model.

Since then, images of a War For Cybertron Trilogy version of Ravage (AKA Tripredacus Agent) made out of a re-engineered version of the Kingdom Cheetor mold have emerged. It currently appears to be available exclusively in Asia, though the instruction leaflet includes 'SDCC1' in its text, seemingly suggesting it's something for an upcoming San Diego Comic Con.

Initially, this was a pleasant surprise, not least because the original Beast Wars figure generally commands a few hundred quid on the secondary market these days (anywhere from £300 to £500+, boxed). What was visible in the box shots of this new version looked pretty good, and the set also includes a G1 Ravage toy (with chromed missile pods) in a clever presentation box representing Ravage's final appearance in the Beast Wars TV show, where he transformed into a cassette and disappeared into the console of his exploding spacecraft.

But then I remembered what a disaster of a figure Kingdom Cheetor is and, when photos of WFCT Ravage's beast mode finally emerged, some of the more dubious changes to the engineering became apparent. Where Cheetor's beast mode forelegs cross behind his back, Ravage's simply hang straight down behind him, reaching down to his knees. Cheetor's tail could be detached to become an additional (albeit somewhat silly-looking) axe-like weapon, while Ravage's is simply hinged at its base, but can't even fold all the way up against his back. The robot mode feet are still tiny, ugly blobs that end up running through channels in the beast mode's back legs. The only thing I can say in its favour is that it looks passable in robot mode. I don't think it's necessarily as good as the original, but it could have been much worse, and the alterations made to the way the arms deploy, plus the bulked-up thighs, mean that Ravage's robot mode at least looks substantially better than Cheetor's.

The head sculpt is unique and, true to the original toy, both modes share the same head. It appears to be quite CGI accurate, but the fur detail looks a little too soft (granted, it was non-existent on the CGI)... But, seeing it in photos really makes it apparent that the CGI design looks like the result of many years of horrific feline inbreeding: the downward-curving snout looking more like a bear that's been in too many bar fights.

Nevertheless, I'm kind of tempted... I'd much prefer the original still, since its appearance in both modes is very much a product of its time, but even this as an exclusive is still liable to be the substantially cheaper option. Guess I'll just have to make a judgment call if and when it becomes available to/in the UK.

Next up, bafflingly chucked into the barrel-scraping 'Buzzworthy Bumblebee' line, is the Worlds Collide boxed set, featuring Nemesis Primal (obviously a repaint of Kingdom Optimus Primal), Fangry (a retooling of the Titans Return Grotusque mold), a Beast Wars toy-colours version of Kingdom Blackarachnia with a new head sculpt styled after her box art... and, to justify the set's appearance in this subline, a Bumblebee figure made using the Cliffjumper vehicle mold... So, essentially, a repaint of Generations Selects Bug Bite.

By the looks of it, a lot of fans think that Fangry is the only worthwhile aspect of the set but, for my money, that has to be Blackarachnia. The alternate colourscheme and new head are exactly the sort of thing I like - let alone on a Femme-Bot - so, on the assumption that the boxed set will be sold at the same sort of outlandishly inflated price as most other recent exclusives and boxed sets (it's apparently $85 in the US, so probably over £100 if it comes to the UK), I'll aim to keep an eye on the secondary market for those looking to recoup some of the expense of acquiring a reworking of a four-year-old Monsterbot remake.

The funny thing is that, having cancelled my order for Kingdom Scorponok in the wake of the lukewarm reviews, I'm almost starting to resent the £20 I paid to sign up to Hasbro Pulse Premium. The whole idea behind it was to cut the shipping costs from every order... but I've not ordered anything since. As far as the exclusives are concerned, the toys themselves have been priced far too high to be worthwhile, even if I was particularly interested in any of them... and, so far, I'm not.

There's one more Shattered Glass figure to come, and then whatever else Hasbro decide to throw into Generations Selects, or (heavens forfend) more Buzzworthy Bumblebee, or the increasingly bonkers crossovers, or any other subline they might care to create from here on.

So far, it really ain't looking promising.