tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60351939982664192272024-03-17T23:09:19.230+00:00The HEXdidn't... TransFormers Collection Blog<center>No whining, no angst, just pure TransFormers Bloggery - photos and personal impressions of one of the best toy lines to come out of 1984. And italics. <i>Lots of italics</i>.<br><b>Dropping plastic crack-related litter in the zen garden of your mind since 2008</b></center>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.comBlogger883125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-29185028279286260822024-02-04T23:10:00.000+00:002024-02-04T23:10:25.850+00:00First Breakage of the Year<p>A mere seventeen months ago, I <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2022/09/new-purchases-aka-third-not-unboxing.html" target="_blank">posted</a> that I'd acquired the <i>Studio Series</i> Ironhide based on the <i>Bumblebee </i>movie CGI, posting my <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2022/09/studio-series-84-ironhide.html" target="_blank">write-up</a> of that figure a little over a week later. By and large, I've not experienced any <i>significant</i> breakages with my TransFormers toys... but, let's face it, I've not bought that many new toys since <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2022/09/transformers-legacy-tarantulas.html" target="_blank"><i>Legacy </i>Tarantulas</a>.</p><p>Just this weekend, I decided to do a bit of customising to Ironhide, since he looks so plain. It all went as well as could be expected, and I was quite happy with the results...</p><p>...<i>Until</i>, upon starting to transform him <i>back </i>to robot mode after finishing the touchups on vehicle mode, his right forearm <i>fell off</i> when I unpegged it from his foot. The breakage was to the mushroom peg that facilitates his bicep swivel... and, while the joint <i>was </i>tight, I wasn't even <i>using</i> that joint when it broke, it simply <i>crumbled </i>as I tilted the arm out from the underside of the vehicle mode.</p><p>Making matters all the more strange, the mushroom peg doesn't appear to have <i>sheared </i>apart, it simply <i>cracked</i>... The <i>other </i>bicep swivel joint is just as tight, but shows no sign of any problems (<i>so far!</i>).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoJFrao1nnR9O8sPQMtkKrC-fFMINoq23ysPzl-vX-0nDKgKhJaaWxAIMJccCT81jaBeZMsBLjCKM6kJPF07d-D-aEmVHkvWllly2U2qCof2sNZwibvVf9x7klPwH5ZoVRmDWfhbcPDXoXIK70w0favvA7nxW_0G0wcK4q98yu786P6Dm9IIK3zWmaJig/s3264/IMG_6196.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoJFrao1nnR9O8sPQMtkKrC-fFMINoq23ysPzl-vX-0nDKgKhJaaWxAIMJccCT81jaBeZMsBLjCKM6kJPF07d-D-aEmVHkvWllly2U2qCof2sNZwibvVf9x7klPwH5ZoVRmDWfhbcPDXoXIK70w0favvA7nxW_0G0wcK4q98yu786P6Dm9IIK3zWmaJig/w400-h300/IMG_6196.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>I've been thinking of replacing both Ratchet <i>and </i>Ironhide with the oversized KOs Shock Warrior SW-01 and -02 simply because they're a better size and have much better overall presentation... this breakage pretty much makes it a necessity.</p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-41656032150654150192023-12-31T23:59:01.502+00:002024-01-09T22:40:17.806+00:002023 Retrospective<p><i>It's that time of year again</i>... and, like last time, I'm going to keep the preamble <i>short</i>. Suffice it to say, 2023 was a difficult year and a disappointing year, in equal measure.</p><p>Not least, this has been one of the <i>leanest </i>years this blog has seen since it began, <i>party </i>due to a five month gap in postings. I've barely bought anything that wasn't discounted to half price (<i>or less</i>), and the <i>Legacy </i>line has utterly <i>failed </i>to engage me, while <i>Studio Series</i> has made a mess of the toys from the first live action TransFormers movie <i>since Christmas 2018</i>, and Hasbro's streams have consistently 'revealed' toys that have been common knowledge for <i>months</i>. As far as official TransFormers go, I think we can safely say <i>I'm no longer an active collector</i>... At least until they produce something a bit more innovative, that <i>isn't</i> deeply rooted in <i>G1</i>.</p><p>Though there's some cool Third Party stuff to look forward to in future...</p><p>So, let's get on with this year's retrospective:</p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><b>Highlights of 2023</b><p></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Theatre trips</b> - we started the New Year with a double-whammy of theatre: historical drama <i>Best of Enemies</i>, starring David Harewood and Zachary Quinto, and clever mish-mash of Dickens and Doyle, <i>A Sherlock Carol</i>. This was followed <i>The Woman in Black</i> in February, historical comedy musical <i>Six </i>in March, George Takei's semi-autobiographical historical drama/musical <i>Allegiance</i> in April, and <i>Pygmalion </i>in September, most of which covered by theatre tokens Courtney and I got for Christmas. Rounding off the year, we went to see <i>another </i>version of <i>A Christmas Carol</i> at the Old Vic, last Wednesday, this one starring none other than Christopher Ecclestone. Courtney got <i>even more</i> theatre tokens for Christmas, so we're <i>already </i>looking into next year's theatrical offerings.</li><li><b>Phantom Peak (<i>again</i>)</b> - the venue runs a special Halloween-themed event and, based on my description of the basic show that I attended with my best mate last year, I was able to convince Courtney to give it a go. Phantom Peak had expanded significantly since then, with a whole new section of town in the interior part. We only solved two mysteries in our four hour slot (<i>would have been three, but we finished the last just as the closing ceremony began</i>) but had a great time on a lovely October day.</li><li><b>Improvements to the flat</b> - there had been a serious problem with damp for years, and it was finally tackled this summer. Essentially, mine was the only flat in the block that had no vents in the front brickwork, so I had that fixed, and a PIV ventilation system installed, as well as a ventilation fan in the bathroom. In theory, this would not only help with the damp, but offer an improvement to our heating bill. There's currently more evidence of the <i>former </i>than the <i>latter</i>, but any improvement is welcome.</li><li><b>RetCon </b>- this has become a regular highlight of my year since I joined the team that runs it and, while the SAM Coupé contingent was <i>smaller </i>this year, and we perhaps had fewer 'big name' guests, it was nevertheless a great experience. For this year's show, I spent much of my birthday helping with the setup, but hadn't had any other plans to interfere with that. The day itself seemed less busy than last year, and the high score competition I ran using <i>The Lower Caverns</i> didn't get a massive amount of attention during the day.</li><li><b>Courtney's New York adventure</b> - while I wasn't able to accompany her, I was thrilled on her behalf that she was flying out to New York state to spend a few days in New York City with her best mate (<i>who flew in from Canada</i>) before heading on to Saratoga Springs for an <i>X-Files</i> convention which included a trip to the newly-opened X-Files Preservation Collection. Admittedly, though, being on my own at home for about a week and a half wasn't great...</li><li><b>Courtney's sister qualifies as a veterinary nurse</b> - shortly after her birthday and just over a week before Christmas, the announcement went out that she had passed her final exam. A great way to end the year, especially given her own set of struggles.</li><li><b><i>Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves</i></b> - my own D&D playing has fallen by the wayside due to the niece not exactly losing interest, but certainly becoming less keen to play with family... so the arrival of a new D&D movie, particularly one that was actually well-written and well-executed, made up for some of that. It should be fairly obvious that a narrative gaming experience should translate well to film... but previous attempts have been awful, and failed to capture the feel of the game anywhere near as well as this latest outing.</li><li><b><i>Godzilla Minus One</i></b> - went into this one with no real expectations (<i>I hadn't even fully realised it was a Japanese movie</i>) and, while there were a couple of moments in the early half of the movie where I almost fell asleep (<i>reclining seats were partially to blame</i>), it was a very well-made movie with a decent human story intertwined with the monster madness.</li><li><b><i>Contact </i>(book <i>and </i>film)</b> - I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I only got round to reading Carl Sagan's <i>Contact </i>this year. While I enjoyed it, particularly the humorous little asides Sagan added to the narrative, I found the end a little disappointing. The movie plays fast and loose with the original story, focussing <i>entirely </i>on Ellie Arroway, editing her four travelling companions out, <i>vastly </i>increasing the size of the Machine, <i>yet also erasing the parts of the book that took the focus on Ellie's personal life even further</i>. Also fun for being a very early role for Jena Malone, playing Ellie as a child.</li><li><b>Finishing <i>Star Trek:TNG</i>, moving on to <i>Deep Space Nine</i></b> - while Courtney was seeing <i>ST:TNG</i> for the first time, for me, it was a treat to rediscover a show I saw on TV back in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Some of it hadn't stood the test of time - the first series in particular felt like a continuation of the original series <i>in the worst possible way</i> - but, once it hit its stride, it was able to say some profound and, in some cases, <i>eerily prescient</i> things about our time, both then <i>and </i>now. <i>DS9</i>, however, took it to a whole new level: some of its stories relate <i>all too well</i> to current events, particularly in the rise of religious extremists on Bajor, the delusional, paranoid, fascist Cardassians, particularly Dukat and his obsession with Making Cardassia Great Again, and the poorly-judged alliances between the various races in the name of protecting their own Empires from the looming encroachment of The Dominion. The two-parter <i>Past Tense</i>, a story set in 2024 which first aired in 1995, felt <i>alarmingly </i>on-the-nose with its depiction of a divided America.</li><li><b>Season 2 of <i>Reacher</i></b><i> </i>- I didn't expect to like the Lee Child adaptation even half as much as I did, making me think perhaps I should check out the books. Season 2 hit the ground running (<i>perhaps not the most thoughtful description, considering the opening scene of a guy hitting the ground most definitely </i>not <i>running</i>), and actual living-mountain Alan Ritchson continues to impress with his performance.</li><li><b>Finally finishing <i>The Lower Caverns</i></b> - work commenced back in 2018, and it feels as though the development of this upgrade/remix has really <i>dragged </i>over the last couple of years. I didn't help matters this year, by suddenly deciding to replace the brick patterns I created almost five years ago, but I feel the new versions are a vast improvement. Looking forward to working on the <i>next </i>project.</li><li><b>A little bit more work</b> - while the <i>hinted-at</i> items of work 'throughout the year' never materialised, the organisation that asked me to update their guidebook for 2023 came back to me, full of enthusiasm for working with me again, and requesting a full redesign for their 2024 book. On top of that, my regular/annual website update work came through again.</li><li><b>A rewarding (albeit unpaid) project</b> - sometime in April, I was contacted by a professor at Kingston University, who challenged me to design a game based on <i>The Empire Strikes Back</i>, as it might have been designed for the ZX Spectrum, circa 1988. Four months later, I finalised a design document spanning about 40 pages (<i>including a series of screenshot mockups</i>), <a href="http://www.hexdidnt.clara.net/downloads/Empire%20Strikes%20Back%20Design%20Doc%20FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">which can be downloaded here, if you're interested</a>...</li><li><b>A little bit more therapy</b> - after experiencing panic attacks (<i>on which more below</i>), I ended up getting a handful of sessions of therapy for anxiety. While the panic attacks had stopped by the time the sessions started (<i>several months after the event!</i>) the advice I received was nevertheless beneficial for dealing with the day-to-day anxiety, and I was sent some material specific to panic attacks after a catch-up session later in the year.</li><li><b>Unexpected compliments?</b> - I tend not to think of myself as "a people person", because I was <i>already </i>displaying hermit-like tendencies even <i>before </i>the lockdowns of a couple of years ago, but the partner of a friend of mine described me <i>using that exact phrase</i> this year. I also had an unexpected message from an old Print contact of mine, looking to meet up for a few drinks and a catch-up in mid-December, which ended up in a rather upmarket bar/restaurant in Kings Cross, and was a lot of fun.</li><li><b>Third Party TransFormers magic</b> - while I'm <i>tempted </i>to criticise MetaGate for the myriad repaints they've produced of their Haiku mold, including at least one that isn't a TransFormers reference, their <i>next </i>big product - their triple-changing Shatter figure, Red Fantasy - looks to be another utterly magical bit of engineering, and very much on my Want List.</li><li><b>Flame Toys' <i>FuRaiModel</i> kits</b> - while Hasbro's own output has largely left me cold this year, I finally put together the Windblade model kit (<i>which had been sitting in a drawer since February of 2022!</i>), and then quickly ordered the Arcee kit which was released this year. The cost of the latter was significantly increased on the former, but she also feels like a significant upgrade in terms of complexity and the intricacy of her articulation. There's <i>already </i>concept art for a Blackarachnia kit, so I'll be on the lookout for that as well... Not only are they amazing-looking Femme-Bots, but they have reminded me how much I enjoy building model kits. On the downside, certain parts absolutely need gluing in place, as they're prone to popping off.</li><li><b>The O'Donnell's Moonshine Advent Calendar (again!)</b> - this year's introduced some new flavours of moonshine and had a decent selection of merch...</li><li><b>Discovering chrome pens</b> - except not really, since I first learned about them from the YouTube channel Toy Polloi some years back, and only got round to acquiring any this year. Being able to add chrome to newer TransFormers toys became a little addictive, and some ended up getting quite extensive coatings.</li><li><b>Suella Braverman booted out... <i>again</i></b><i> </i>- the irony of a Home Secretary of immigrant stock calling for harsher treatment of immigrants seems to have been entirely lost on the Conservative Party, but her hateful rhetoric - not least calling homelessness "a lifestyle choice" and essentially inciting a riot on Remembrance Day - eventually made her position untenable, and she was sacked for the second time in about a year.</li><li><b>Christopher Ecclestone's response to the question of returning to <i>Doctor Who</i></b> - the epitome of succinct. The only real surprise is that none of the other actors have spoken up about it,<i> not least Billie Piper, who stayed on for the first season with David Tennant</i>. It was fairly obvious that the production for the first season was a mess, and Ecclestone has already told the story of the way he was let go after complaining about it, but his specific terms for making a return should be seen for what they are: confirmation of an <i>absolutely toxic</i> working environment under the much-lauded showrunner.</li></ul><p></p><p><b>Disappointments of 2023</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Family deaths</b> - feels wrong to lump this in the 'Disappointments' category, because it's a little bit <i>beyond </i>the scope of that word, but this year brought the death of my girlfriend's last surviving grandparent and, shortly after, her father. Her relationship with <i>both</i> could be generously described as 'strained', which made the whole thing even <i>more </i>emotionally complicated than it would have been if the relationship had been ideal. The grandmother had still not reconciled with the family after getting upset with everyone last year and declining to attend the wedding of Courtney's sister, and her will became contentious. </li><li><b>Pest problems and panic attacks</b> - things took a turn for the <i>weird </i>in the first quarter of the year, when Courtney and I discovered mice in the flat... which then led to the discovery of how poorly converted it was, with lots of large gaps in the floor and skirting. It <i>also </i>led to me having panic attacks, and my overall mental health deteriorating to the point where I couldn't sleep, even with the help of <i>reluctantly-prescribed</i> sleeping pills. I was soon prescribed antidepressants <i>and </i>given some counselling to help with the anxiety. Both <i>probably </i>a good thing because, during summer, we had wasps trying to set up a nest right outside and - <i>following a visit by an inexperienced pest controller</i> - popping up out of the floor in my kitchen and hall, necessitating a return visit. Shortly after that, I found flies emerging from a thin gap in the base of my shower... Thankfully, I was able to take care of <i>that </i>myself.</li><li><b>Not getting out as much</b> - it certainly feels as though Courtney and I didn't get out as much as we did last year... Sure, I've got my twice-a-month computer club, and she's done more volunteering at the Science Museum, joined a local choir and met up with friends every so often, but we've been talking about going to the Barnes Wetlands Centre for <i>years</i>, and this summer would have presented an <i>ideal </i>opportunity... but, what with our mental health not being optimal, <i>neither </i>of us really felt like going out a lot of the time. Part of that was due to the pest problems - I didn't want to go out only to come back to a flat full of mice <i>scurrying around</i>, part of it was due to the stresses - both expected <i>and </i>unexpected - of the deaths in Courtney's family, some of which got dragged out over the rest of the year, and coincided with some strife in her workplace. Whatever the reason, there was a period of several months - <i>disappointingly, mostly through the summer</i> - where we barely left the flat except for necessities.</li><li><b>UK politics, generally</b> - the UK's Conservative Party is becoming ever more obvious in its desire to be a cheap (<i>or rather, expensive</i>) knock-off of the US Republican Party: out of touch with the populace, waging <i>culture wars</i> in the absence of sensible <i>policies</i>, keeping their rich donors happy at all costs, denying the ever more obvious and disastrous realities of Brexit, <i>and holding on to power for dear life</i>. The current PM may have lasted longer than his predecessor, but he's clearly an idiot, and his Home Secretary is the stuff of dystopian nightmares. The curtailment of HS2 <i>and the deliberate sabotage of any future efforts</i> really should have been the final nail in his coffin, but if there's one thing the Tories are good at, it's protecting their own... When it suits them, at least. Just one example of their bullshit came in the aftermath of an escaped prisoner, where the PM gleefully told journalists that there had been <i>"ten times as many escapees under the last Labour government"</i>... a claim which can be easily refuted <i>by examining the government's own statistics</i>. Similarly, the COVID enquiry revealed that BoJo's government was in even greater disarray, and that his leadership was even more questionable than previously thought... <i>And yet he seems to be plotting a comeback</i>? Worse still, after sacking the most <i>monstrous </i>Home Secretary in living history, Sunak started bringing back old Tory cronies like David Cameron, <i>seemingly </i>as a vain attempt to win back the <i>less </i>hard-line voters by 'getting the old band back together', albeit in different roles. Performative politics at its most egregious.</li><li><b><i>TransFormers: Rise of the Beasts</i></b> - even given all the <i>glowing </i>early reviews, I went into the movie with low expectations, and still came away disappointed. Despite being edited down to about two hours, it felt <i>overlong </i>and <i>meandering</i>, yet also <i>disjointed </i>and <i>incomplete</i>. The robots had barely <i>any</i> character, the humans added next to nothing, the titular beasts were <i>completely misinterpreted</i> for the big screen and only Airazor was present for more than about a <i>quarter </i>of the running time. The <i>worst </i>part of it was that so many were expecting this to be a continuation of the so-called 'Knightverse', but it's basically a reboot of the Bayverse, with the same McGuffin fixation and only <i>marginally </i>better robot designs, in that Scourge, Battletrap and Nightbird at least <i>looked </i>unique and robotic, rather than like <i>insectoid monsters made of metal scraps</i>. Let's call this 'strike one' for Hasbro in 2023.</li><li><b><i>The Marvels</i></b> - while I didn't <i>hate </i>the movie (<i>quite enjoyed it, in fact</i>) it felt like something developed for TV and hurriedly re-edited into a movie... with special effects to match. There's certainly a sense that Marvel Studios are running on fumes, <i>creatively speaking</i>, after churning out far too many movies, far too quickly to maintain any sense of consistent quality. However, it was nice to see a movie with a lighter tone, and the post-credits scene was a bit of fun.</li><li><b>New TransFormers comics</b> - I never really got back into TransFormers comics when Dreamwave or IDW launched their respective series, despite the high praise the latter received for their contribution to the lore. When it was announced that Hasbro weren't renewing their license, and that Image Comics (<i>as Skybound Entertainment</i>) would be picking things up <i>and rebooting G1 for the umpteenth time</i>, I can say with certainty that my interest was <i>not </i>piqued. Image have essentially made 'edgy' their business model, so it didn't seem like a good match... and the previews I've seen of the new TransFormers comics have been pretty much what I'd have expected... <i>only with shittier art</i>, harking back to the very <i>worst</i> of Marvel's run in the 1980s. Somehow, they decided that the <i>G1 </i>animation models would work alongside intricate technical detail in vehicles and transformations... and they launched straight into <i>edginess </i>with the likes of Starscream squashing a human in his cartoon hand, and Optimus Prime <i>ripping off his own arm to beat Skywarp to death</i>... And yet some fans are calling it "the best since Marvel"? How quickly IDW are forgotten... Oh, and 'strike two'.</li><li><b>Hasbro's toy output, generally</b> - to this day, I've bought only one figure from the <i>Legacy</i> toyline, <i>and that was from its very first wave</i>, a leftover from <i>WFC: Kingdom</i> (specifically <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2022/09/transformers-legacy-tarantulas.html" target="_blank">Tarantulas</a>), and the <i>Studio Series</i> figures from <i>Rise of the Beasts</i> have been uninspiring - both poorly designed and executed. One of the late reveals in December was next year's Titan class <i>Armada </i>Universe Tidal Wave... which looks <i>OK</i>, but it's <i>so huge</i> they had to add a <i>miniature </i>version to attach to <i>Legacy Armada</i> Megatron per the original toys... which doesn't have its own robot mode... and it's too small. Sure, it didn't work especially well on the <i>original </i>toys, but it feels to me that they should have just foregone the combination gimmick if they wanted to make the most of Tidal Wave as a Titan class figure. Then there's the <i>Collaborative </i>line, which limps on with more dire <i>Jurassic Park</i>, <i>GI Joe</i> and <i>Universal Monsters</i> crossovers. One has to wonder what the intended audience is... <i>because it doesn't seem to be TransFormers fans, for the most part</i>, even though some of them are evidently quite enthusiastic about these curious lines. The <i>GI Joe</i> crossovers have attracted a fair bit of scorn for their simplistic design and execution, <i>but there's also been a bizarre amount of enthusiasm for them</i>. On top of this, virtually every new release has seen <i>many </i>instances of breakages due either to poor design, sloppy assembly, low-quality plastic, <i>or a combination of all three</i>. This isn't <i>just </i>'strike three', it's basically been the final nail in the coffin for my collecting. I've only had one full-on <i>breakage </i>so far, which was my own fault, but I've found <i>substantial discolouration </i>of the plastic on quite a few (including some of Takara Tomy's from the <i>TF Legends</i> line, circa <i>Titans Return</i>, but that's a good few years ago now...)</li><li><b><i>TransFormers: Reactivate</i></b> - first publicised with a pre-rendered CGI movie trailer, we still have yet to see any actual <i>gameplay </i>footage, yet the game has gone through several new titles, a new development team and is now being moved to a whole new game engine, all in the space of the five-plus years this has allegedly been in development. Doesn't bode well... nor does the suggestion that it features Autobots and Decepticons <i>teaming up against some generic alien menace</i>. With microtransactions. So far, it sounds very much like a generic mech shooter with the TransFormers license <i>bolted on</i>.</li><li><b><i>Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction</i></b> - off the back of watching <i>Star Trek: The Next Generation</i>, Courtney discovered that Jonathan Frakes was presenting a TV show that mixed 'true stories' of supernatural or otherwise bizarre occurrences in with selection of tales created wholly by the writers on the show. We watched a handful of episodes together, but I couldn't get into it at all - every story was <i>cretinous</i>, and the claim that some were 'based on true events' was frequently ridiculous in the extreme. Courtney enjoyed it for <i>a little</i> longer, <i>because </i>it was so bad, but eventually had to admit that it was <i>the same shit in every episode</i>, meaning it quickly got boring.</li><li><b>The return of <i>Doctor Who</i> (<i>and </i>RTD)</b> - I'll go into this a bit more below, since I made a prediction about it <i>last </i>year, but the first of the 60th Anniversary specials, <i>The Star Beast</i>, was predictable, anticlimactic, and lacking any sense of subtlety or nuance, <i>particularly when it comes to the clumsy gender politics thrown in</i>. The <i>story </i>might have benefitted by a longer runtime, <i>but somehow the episode already felt bloated</i>. Even when the villain of the piece - and their escape plan - was revealed, there was no <i>tension</i>, no sense of <i>stakes</i>... And the Sonic Screwdriver is rapidly becoming <i>the deus ex machina to end all dei ex machina</i>. The part that <i>really</i> aggravated me - <i>through the sheer cheapness of its problem-solving</i> - was the way the ground miraculously closed itself up once the villain's lethal craft was disabled. Rose was such a poorly-drawn character, her situation is revealed in the most heavy-handed terms available for the sake of <i>expediency</i>, but also she doesn't make sense: she's heckled by a bunch of her school contemporaries, speaks to a child clearly <i>several years</i> younger than her as if they're supposed to be the same age, and exactly <i>how </i>does Donna have such a grown-up child, when it's clearly not <i>that </i>many years since the Doctor crossed paths with the Noble family? Did they cast a 19-year-old actor in the role of a 15-year-old character purely for the sake of representation? Apparently so. What's really <i>sad </i>is that there were some good <i>ideas </i>in there: the suggestion that the human/Time Lord metacrisis was averted (<i>or at least postponed</i>) by Donna having a child was brilliant, and the idea of the Gallifreyan influence feeding into Jason/Rose's gender identity would have been a great nod to the idea that a Time Lord may regenerate into a male <i>or </i>female form... but the story's utilisation of it was a travesty, particularly in the <i>"let it go"</i> denouement, which somehow led to the absolutely unearned line from Rose <i>"After all these years, I'm finally me."</i> (with no indication of exactly what that meant). I also found the 'easter egg' that all her soft toy creations were based on creatures the Doctor had encountered was a huge waste, because they're barely seen until the 'easter egg' is literally <i>rubbed in the audience's face</i>. Chekhov's gun they ain't, but they - and Rose - could and really <i>should</i> have been. <i>Wild Blue Yonder</i> was an improvement, in that it felt like a <i>mostly </i>complete episode, despite (<i>or perhaps because of</i>) its minimal cast, and more akin to what I tend to expect from Doctor Who stories... but nothing about it felt like <i>a 60th Anniversary celebration of Doctor Who</i>. There were <i>elements </i>in common to the season 4 episode, <i>Midnight</i>, but it felt disjointed and unfinished, even while paying lip service to some of the more controversial decisions from the Chibnall era. Again, there were some great ideas... but it all needed further development, not to mention more time to improve the CGI, some of which is decidedly ropey... The opening scene featuring a <i>bafflingly </i>race-swapped Isaac Newton was <i>utterly, utterly pointless</i>, since it only served a running joke that wasn't even funny. Plus, if this scene was set in 1666, it wouldn't have been <i>Sir </i>Isaac Newton, as he wasn't knighted till 1705... <i>talk about polluting the time-stream</i>. Amusingly, RTD admitted in an interview that the fact that the plot to this episode was kept so secret might have contributed to the disappointment felt by the section of the audience that were expecting to see <i>multiple </i>Doctors in a bigger, more exciting story... but, were it <i>not </i>for the fact that this was billed as a 60th Anniversary Special, <i>I'd honestly still count this among the best episodes he has ever written</i>. Then we get onto <i>The Giggle</i>... which is definitely <i>not </i>among RTD's best. Again, the <i>idea </i>was great... but the execution was inconsistent and frequently heavy-handed in its messaging, while the ending was <i>pure saccharine</i>. It also featured a few conspicuous repeated motifs from RTD's <i>original </i>run - the gold tooth containing the Master being picked up by a female hand coming from out of frame and the musical number being directly ripped off from <i>The Sound of Drums</i> (S3 E12), while the idea of a duplicate Doctor going on to live his own life alongside his companion came from <i>Doomsday </i>(S2 E13). It just goes to show that RTD is so <i>utterly fixated</i> on David Tennant as the Doctor that he has to go on <i>forever</i>, even though a new Doctor has been cast. Seriously, Davies... <i>let it go</i>. Admittedly, the Christmas Special episode - Ncuti Gatwa's <i>true </i>introduction - was better than I'd <i>expected </i>but, at this point, <i>that's not saying much</i>... And <i>magical time-travelling goblins in a flying galleon</i> was a bit silly... but, then, rumour has it the now-rebooted, Disney-associated <i>Doctor Who</i> will move more into the realms of Fantasy rather than being exclusively Sci-Fi. I wonder if this means the next female Doctor will automatically be a Disney Princess. <i>On first impressions</i>, Gatwa comes across as having the <i>potential </i>to be the best Doctor since Matt Smith, but we now have to wait till May to see what happens next.</li></ul><p></p><p><b>Predictions vs Reality</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Switching my focus</b> - 2022 me was still being a bit of an optimist here... I didn't so much switch my focus as lose focus almost entirely. I started losing interest in Hasbro's output during the <i>Prime Wars Trilogy</i>, then the <i>War For Cybertron Trilogy</i> gave me very little to get excited about, and <i>Legacy </i>has been a mish-mash of clashing styles that (<i>in typical Hasbro fashion</i>) doesn't fit their own description of what <i>Legacy</i> was intended to represent. Meanwhile, <i>Studio Series</i> waded into <i>Rise of the Beasts</i> at least a year too early to present <i>anything </i>worth buying, and quality control continues to deteriorate across all lines. The non-transforming Flame Toys model kits and Third Party products are likely to become my main focus going forward... with an emphasis on the Femme-Bots.</li><li><b>A bad year for Hasbro</b> - by all accounts it's been a year of ups and downs for Hasbro, but overall possibly <i>not</i> as bad as I'd expected. Sure, the continuing fallout from their <i>disastrous</i> attempts to extend their monetisation of third-party D&D media and materials caused a massive backlash and, certainly my interest in their output has pretty much bottomed out. The appearance of positive financial performance seems to be coming more from cost-cutting than improved revenue. On 11th December, for example, it was reported that Hasbro were ditching about 20% of their Wizards of the Coast workforce - over a thousand people - as a cost-saving measure. To put that in perspective, not only was that just a couple of weeks before Christmas, it came ahead of the release of a new edition of the D&D rulesets, and shortly <i>after </i>the impressive reception of <i>Baldur's Gate 3</i>. Chances are, they'll soon get rid of a good chunk of their toy brand teams, TransFormers included, since toys just aren't selling as well as they used to. In the long term, I don't foresee this being a beneficial move for Hasbro (or their shareholders)... Honestly, they'd be better off getting rid of Chris Cocks... but, instead, <i>they gave him a $9M bonus</i>. Another textbook example of putting short-term gains ahead of long-term investment.</li><li><b><i>Armada</i> in <i>Legacy</i></b><i> </i>- I predicted that a <i>Legacy </i>version of <i>Armada </i>Optimus Prime would be <i>"simplistic, ugly, and a QC nightmare"</i>, and I wasn't completely off the mark there. The most common breakage is the base robot's shin flaps (<i>which conceal the combined form's fists</i>), but overall build quality seems to be less than optimal, despite it being so chunky... But that seems to be true of <i>the entire line</i>, quite apart from the <i>ongoing </i>issue of rapidly discolouring plastic. Even when they get it 'right' the results are less than inspiring. <i>Armada </i>Megatron is essentially a slightly <i>smaller </i>version of the original, with improvements to articulation to offset the gutting of the Mini-Con gimmicks and the shoddy paint job. <i>Armada </i>hasn't taken centre-stage, as I might have hoped for the second year of <i>Legacy</i>, as the line remains just as bitty and unfocused as it has seemed from the start, though there are rumours of a <i>Legacy Armada</i> Jetfire, if not Overload as well. Meanwhile, the reveals of things like Tigerhawk and Silverbolt - <i>both massively cut down versus the original toys</i> - along with the bizarre <i>Rock Lords</i> hybrids, make it seem as though Hasbro is simply <i>throwing all kinds of shit at the wall just to see what sticks</i>.</li><li><b><i>Rise of the Beasts</i> will be a shitstorm</b> - as the movie's release date approached, I started feeling slightly more <i>optimistic </i>about it, and initial reviews seemed <i>overwhelmingly</i> positive... But the delays and reshoots led to a movie that didn't even <i>approach </i>the best of the Bayverse, let alone exceed the expectations of what many people believed was supposed to be a sequel to <i>Bumblebee</i>. It wasn't quite as bad as those knockoff movies by The Asylum, but it was clear that the writers learned <i>nothing </i>from the team behind <i>Bumblebee</i>, and the whole thing seemed to be aiming to rely on spectacle, without having quite the right budget to achieve it or the coherent narrative to weave it all together. It wasn't the <i>worst </i>TransFormers movie so far, but it was dull, formulaic, <i>and an utter waste of the titular beasts</i>.</li><li><b>I'm not going to like <i>Doctor Who</i>, am I..?</b> - The idea of RTD returning as showrunner seemed bad enough (<i>and killed off any suggestion of Christopher Ecclestone returning for the 60th Anniversary</i>), but the news of Disney's involvement, and that Ncuti Gatwa's first season will be considered a new, rebooted 'Season 1' pretty much confirmed my <i>worst </i>fears. David Tennant's return as the 14th Doctor is essentially RTD's path to largely <i>ignoring </i>everything from Matt Smith to Jodie Whittaker, and continuing 'his' Doctor's story after <i>Journey's End</i>, back in 2008. He's apparently said that elements from Moffat and Chibnall's eras will be <i>referred to</i> - including the contentious 'Timeless Child' angle - but that's unlikely to prove <i>significant</i>. Additionally, the creation of the <i>Whoniverse</i> label, for both the BBC <i>and </i>Disney+, feels like a rather sad attempt to inflate the value of the brand by adding <i>even more</i> spinoffs than were already present. The new series kicked off with a contentious Children In Need short, which completely retconned Davros due to 'modern sensibilities' around associating evil characters with disability, <i>even though the whole point of Davros, as was, was that he did not see himself as in any way disabled, despite having lost his organic eyes, one arm and being half Dalek</i>. In isolation, I found the short reasonably amusing, albeit going for low-hanging fruit for its humour, but the idea of it now being canon, as RTD later implied, seemed like a bad sign. If nothing else, the idea that this was 'pre-injury Davros' makes no sense when his life support/mobility unit was an <i>earlier </i>version of the technology that later became the <i>Mark III Travel Machine</i> we all know and fear/love. Then, as the 60th Anniversary kicked off, all my worst fears were very much realised: clumsy writing, weak storytelling, stories that are lacking important exposition while instead being bloated with unnecessary waffle and unsubtle messaging targeted at the perceived 'audiences of today'. Audience reception was mixed, to say the least, but many commentators started talking about it as if the quality of RTD's writing had somehow <i>deteriorated </i>since he first brought the show back all those years ago... But they're only <i>now </i>starting to say what I'd been saying <i>all along</i>. This is the guy who gave us <i>farting aliens that looked like giant, sickly, mutated babies with claws </i>and <i>a guy carrying on a sexual relationship with a paving slab</i>. Some of the messaging felt like it was coming from the same <i>malign </i>Disney influence that has ruined most of <i>their own</i> output over the last couple of years, turning the company into <i>a pale shadow of its former self</i>. 'Bigeneration' is as big a problem for the ongoing story as the Timeless Child was: not least, it does a huge <i>disservice </i>to Ncuti Gatwa's efforts to leave the 10th/14th Doctor in play, <i>even if he's ostensibly 'retired'</i>. Having 14 split into two Doctors sends the message - however unintentionally - that 15, as the first <i>ongoing </i>Doctor who is (a) <i>not </i>white and (b) apparently gay, is effectively only <i>half </i>a Doctor, immediately <i>a lesser being</i>. Adding insult to injury, while I gather that Gatwa won't have a 'uniform' like most previous Doctors, the first publicised costume is basically what Lenny Henry wore for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9zmbGhpD4E" target="_blank">his spoof of the show</a> back in the mid 1980s. Davies is only making matters worse for himself by responding like a petulant child to any and all criticism he finds on social media, some of which is perfectly valid and worthy of consideration... but, again, <i>this is precisely what I expect from him</i>, and <i>I'm</i> surprised that anyone could possibly <i>be </i>surprised by his current behaviour. On the upside, Gatwa's Christmas episode wasn't bad... Though I could have lived without the musical numbers, which seemed a bit on the silly side, quite apart from a song about eating babies being a touch <i>tone-deaf</i> on RTD's part.</li></ul><p></p><p><b>Predictions for 2024<br /></b>It was difficult enough to come up with predictions for this year... Considering I'm barely paying any attention to Hasbro's new releases, I'm not really interested enough to make <i>much </i>of a prediction on what's next for the TransFormers brand, so...</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b><i>Legacy </i>part 3 is not the end of <i>Legacy</i></b><i> </i>- bit of a no-brainer, really, because I gather Hasbro's TransFormers team have <i>already </i>said that they want to continue the format of <i>Legacy </i>beyond its planned 3-year arc... If that's the case, chances are I will not be buying <i>any </i>mainline TransFormers toys for the foreseeable future.</li><li><b>Further cuts to <i>Studio Series</i></b> - for a line intended to bring the most screen-accurate versions of every movie (and now videogame) character to the fans, Studio Series has been failing spectacularly over the last year or so. Quite apart from the <i>Rise of the Beasts</i> toys being hopelessly inaccurate (Scourge's head, everything about Mirage <i>except</i> the head) and clumsily designed (both Scourge and Battletrap had the robot's hands poking out of their vehicle modes) because they were rushed out and based on concept art and/or early CGI, due to the lengthy development time of the toys not fitting in with the much-delayed film. Quite why they decided to release RotB toys so early is baffling enough, but the fact that some of the mainline toys were better than the Studio Series versions is mind-blowing. Then, the addition of videogame characters into the toyline has been poorly handled, with the new High Moon versions of Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Starscream being particularly poor compared to the versions released back in 2010.</li><li><b><i>GI Joe</i> Collaborative Optimus Prime will be a mess</b> - just the idea that he's going to be a tank is bad enough (shades of <i>Robot Masters</i> Reverse/Rebirth Convoy), but that it's a tank TransFormer being developed by the same people that did Megatron, Bumblebee and Soundwave does not bode well.</li><li><b>Hasbro to perform badly in the stock market</b> - after the Open Game License <i>debacle</i>, and the 'overmonetisation' of <i>Magic: The Gathering</i>, Hasbro had their stock hammered down, but failed to learn any <i>lessons </i>from it. The now seem to be moving toward making D&D <i>wholly electronic and online</i>, when the game is traditionally very analogue and in-person - <i>the very essence of social gaming</i> - even as they continue to lose subscribers to <i>D&D Beyond</i>. The less one has to offer that people <i>want </i>to buy into, the more one's user base will shrink... and Wizards of the Coast are far from being the <i>only </i>players in town when it comes to roleplaying games. Making matters worse (<i>for themselves</i>) rumours began circulating that they were moving toward AI-generated art assets, and then they ditched over a thousand employees shortly before Christmas. <i>It's hard to see how that could ever inspire long-term investor confidence in the company or its current leadership</i>.</li><li><b>More Tory scandals</b> - pretty much inevitable, but I wonder how much longer Rishi Sunak is actually going to last as PM. Given the sort of stories coming out of the COVID enquiry, about how the top Tory politicians actually view the people of the country they supposedly lead, I'm hopeful that the next election will bring some real change. Of course, if the Tories win again, they'll take that as a mandate to carry on <i>ripping us off and running the country into the ground</i>.</li><li><b><i>Doctor Who</i> will become ever more divisive</b> - if the rumours are to be believed and Disney's influence on the ongoing <i>Doctor Who</i> will push it further into the realms of Fantasy rather than remaining exclusively Sci-Fi, a lot more fans are going to be upset. While the Christmas episode was fun, I didn't appreciate the inclusion of magical, time-travelling goblins, or their flying wooden ship. Admittedly, the trailers had no <i>obvious </i>indications of the Fantasy elements, and <i>many </i>of the rumours have turned out to be <i>utterly false</i> (the story about Gatwa's Doctor wearing wellies, in particular), so time will tell. As it were.</li></ul><p></p><p>So, not a great year... On balance, probably worse than 2022 for several <i>specific </i>reasons outlined above, <i>but not without its highlights</i>. As mentioned above, none of the very few Hasbro products I bought this year were acquired at their RRP, and that's set to continue. I'm vaguely interested in the newly-released Concept Art Megatron from the <i>Studio Series</i> line, but its underlying engineering is much the same as the <i>Studio Series</i> renditions of <i>RotF </i>Megatron and <i>DotM </i>Shockwave figures, so I'm very reluctant to pay the full £56 for it, especially with so much bare grey plastic in evidence.</p><p>Very little, if anything of what's been revealed so far for 2024 holds any interest for me, so there's a good chance it'll be another lean year in terms of official merchandise. Coupled with Hasbro's habit of pissing on any good will they generate in their myriad fandoms, they've done nothing to encourage my loyalty to their brands.</p><p>Licensed stuff, like Flame Toys' model kits - and particularly the Blackarachnia figure first revealed a couple of years back - is potentially more attractive since the Windblade and Arcee kits were great fun to put together. However, I can see myself going fully Third Party, <i>finances permitting</i>, unless the TransFormers brand starts to offer something new and innovative after <i>Legacy </i>concludes.</p><p>If nothing else, it'll be interesting to see how Chris Cocks earns his next <i>ridiculous </i>bonus in 2024, and what's <i>left </i>of Hasbro afterwards.</p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-30535599708780632222023-12-02T17:47:00.000+00:002023-12-02T17:47:03.936+00:00Human Alliance Skids & Arcee<div style="text-align: left;">
OK, by this point, I am <i>reasonably </i>certain that this is actually the
last - the <i>very </i>last - <i>Revenge of the Fallen</i> figure in my
collection, at least until <i>Studio Series</i> adds something <i>worthwhile </i>from that film. As with <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2022/05/human-alliance-mudflap-chromia.html" target="_blank">Mudflap</a>, this toy had been languishing,
<i>largely forgotten</i>, in a box for years. The photos I had taken have been awaiting upload
from my computer for more than <i>ten years</i>.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Skids and Mudflap were referred to in <i>RotF </i>as 'the twins', but their
Deluxe Class toys were surprisingly different, given the limitations of the
size class. They had <i>broadly </i>similar Mech Alive gimmicks, but the
<i>specifics </i>of their operation were quite different. Their
transformations had similar <i>aspects</i>, but their weapon features were
<i>wholly unique</i>. The craziest thing about the
<i>Human Alliance</i> versions is that they're <i>even more similar</i> in terms of
their underlying engineering, despite the (<i>marginally</i>) larger size versus the Deluxe class toys.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So, let's take a look at this much-maligned character, and see how he fares in this <i>underutilised </i>format.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span><a name='more'></a></span><b><u>Vehicle Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Given that <i>Human Alliance</i> Skids really isn't <i>much </i>bigger than his Deluxe class toy, it's no surprise that he has similar placement for his transformation seams... though, curiously, this version has <i>fewer </i>of them. That's often a bad sign, suggesting that the robot mode is going to end up with half the car's shell on his back, which was certainly the case with <i>HA </i>Mudflap.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Still, vehicle mode looks as good as a toy Chevy Beat can look... <i>and it's certainly not as ugly as the Trax</i>. Still, as small cars go, it's fairly nondescript except for the rather violent green colouring of the plastic and its faint pearlescent shimmer. In terms of sculpted detail, there's really not much to choose between this and the Deluxe. As far as I can see, the only <i>unique </i>detail on this version is the 'BEAT' logo sculpted onto the rear hatch, to the left of the Chevy logo. One thing the Deluxe has that is <i>not</i> present on this larger version is a pair of panel lines tracking up from the numberplate's recess to the rear window.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The paint job here is rather more <i>complete </i>than on the Deluxe class toy, <i>obviously</i>, though the differences are quite subtle. Black paint has been applied over the rear wheel well on each side, and is extended along the bottom edge to meet the black plastic part <i>below </i>the doors. The lights embedded in the bumper are picked out with silver paint and their mountings have a dash of black in the corner. The main lights, <i>front and rear</i>, are translucent blue plastic and, while the <i>inner </i>parts of the <i>rear </i>lights are unpainted - <i>they just have blobs of red paint on the outside to represent the brake lights</i> - the headlights are backed with silver paint <i>and</i> each features a couple of stripes of orange for the indicators. Neither the numberplate nor the Chevrolet logo on the <i>back</i> are painted, but the embossed text of the numberplate is highlighted in black, and the logo in the <i>front </i>is rimmed with silver paint. The frame of his main grille at the front and the rims of each wheel are painted silver, while the design painted on each side is naturally more <i>intricate </i>than the version on the Deluxe.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The doors are a little tricky to open - <i>they're a very snug fit</i> - but they open into an interior that's remarkably similar to that of <i>HA </i>Mudflap, just that the weaponised seat is on the <i>passenger </i>side. The simple dashboard and steering wheel appear to be basically identical to Mudflap's, and he even has the same miniature Gatling folded down in the middle.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So, <i>overall</i>, functionally on a par with Mudflap, but slightly <i>prettier </i>and, while Skids' feet <i>also </i>hang out below the rear bumper, they don't look as out of place and obvious because they're smaller, simpler and molded in grey plastic - <i>almost like chunky exhaust pipes</i>.</div>
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<b><u>Robot Mode:</u></b>
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<div style="text-align: left;">Skids' vehicle mode may be marginally prettier than Mudflap's, but their robot modes are unmistakably alike, except in colour and in the details <i>mostly </i>carried over from vehicle mode. Unlike the Deluxe, the grille on his chest is fake detail, <i>covered over in vehicle mode by the real grille</i>. With the exception of the egregious backpack, his <i>proportions </i>are much better than the Deluxe, but using much the same engineering as his brother means that his car doors become <i>wings</i>, which the Deluxe class toy manage to <i>avoid</i>. Strange - <i>though almost certainly not unprecedented</i> - for a larger-scale toy to be the <i>less </i>accurate one... Still, if folded straight back, the doors become <i>less </i>obtrusive... but they do extend back further than his sizeable backpack.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But while his proportions may be better than the Deluxe, <i>they're still not quite right</i>. The legs seem a touch too <i>long</i>, or at least far too <i>slender </i>in the thigh, and the arms look as awkward as ever. The head seems rather small on the body and, <i>as with Mudflap</i>, it's positioned quite far forward on the upper body, <i>exacerbating the hunchbacked, forward-leaning appearance</i>. The feet appear to be based on the same (<i>outdated</i>) artwork as the Deluxe class toy, as the design of the 'toe' part is quite similar, and <i>neither </i>match the look of the CGI. Surprisingly, the sculpt of his shin and upper thigh is <i>unique</i>, rather than duplicating Mudflap's parts, though the parts that make up the <i>knee joint</i> appear to be identical. Similarly, his pelvis has a completely different and simpler design, while the hinged panels that make up the <i>inner </i>part of his torso from the waist to the neck are the same <i>apart from the Beat's unique grille design</i>. There's also an obvious <i>glitch </i>in the colouration toward the shoulders: since the bonnet is <i>black </i>plastic, the flaring collar parts are black, while the CGI had them miraculously turn <i>green</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Although the engineering of the arms is largely the same between the twins, the precise <i>details </i>are different for two reasons: the main play gimmick is attached to his <i>right </i>arm, while Mudflap's was on his left, and Skids' shoulders are <i>chunkier </i>because they play host to his vehicle mode wheels. The right arm, while <i>bulkier</i>, features the same <i>hollowness </i>on the inside, but the car seat is arranged such that one of the human figures can actually be sat <i>operating </i>his spring-loaded missile launcher, where Mudflap's ended up facing <i>backward</i>, up his arm.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The spring-loaded missile launcher has a simple, <i>nondescript</i> sculpt and a large trigger button sitting in line with his thumb, <i>roughly where a human figure's left shin would end up, if seated on that arm</i>. Even for the time, it's a surprisingly <i>powerful </i>spring, capable of propelling the missle a good few feet. Between the two, I think I prefer Skids' spring-loaded launcher to Mudflap's rather disappointing grappling hook... though his <i>other </i>arm doesn't even feature a <i>sculpted </i>weapon in the back of the seat. What he <i>does </i>have is <i>another </i>feature carried over from Mudflap: the gatling gun that can flip up behind the head. This can be operated by one of the human figures, which can peg onto a platform concealed in his backpack, and grasp the handles on the sides of the gun. I think it would have been nice for Skids to have a <i>unique </i>overhead weapon, but I guess Hasbro felt that his spring-loaded launcher should be enough for <i>most </i>fans.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">When I wrote about Mudflap, I said <i>his </i>was the ugliest head design in Bayverse but, <i>let's face it</i>, there's not much to choose between him and Skids. They <i>both </i>look like Gremlins made out of scrap metal, and Skids is lumbered with a bug-eye <i>and </i>a pair of protruding front teeth. Given his colouring, the closest analogy these days would be <i>"if baby Yoda was addicted to crystal meth"</i>. He has touches of green paint in all the right places, but his 'ears' are only painted on the <i>fronts</i>. His gold tooth is painted, but the other is the <i>bare grey plastic</i> of the rest of the head. As with Mudflap, he <i>also </i>has the mouth-movement gimmick, whereby pressing down on his tufts of metallic hair causes his lower jaw to open. <i>Unlike </i>Mudflap, his eyes are <i>not </i>painted over, and the light piping is active,<i> albeit sorely limited by having the mouth-flapping gimmick run through the middle of the transparent blue plastic part embedded in the head</i>.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">Unlike the Deluxes, <i>HA </i>Skids' transformation is functionally <i>identical </i>to Mudflap, with the only differences being in the chest, where Skids is far <i>tidier</i>, doesn't have thin sections from above the wheel wells getting in the way of his arms, <i>and doesn't have the absolute headache of manoeuvring his front wheels inside his body</i>. Instead, the small section between the wheel well and the wing mirrors gets folded down on top of the shoulder, which carries the front wheels. <i>Both </i>have the outer edges of the bonnet popped up at an angle around the collar, <i>both </i>have the shell of the car collapsed down into a pouch on their backs, into which the human figures can be inserted, and <i>all </i>the limbs transform out in much the same way, though the weaponised arm on Skids is his <i>right</i>, rather than his left.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">Since the engineering on this toy is virtually the same as Mudflap's, Skids' articulation is basically the same as well. Obviously the arms don't have to navigate around <i>thin strips of car panelling</i>, so they have a freer 360° rotation around the shoulder, but the increased mass of his shoulders <i>reduces </i>their outward range <i>without the use of the transformation joints</i>. The arms are <i>jointed</i> the same, albeit mirrored, so his <i>right </i>hand has pinned fingers and thumb for articulation, and the bicep and elbow joints are easily up to the task of having him point his wrist-mounted, spring-loaded missile launcher. Waist articulation is hindered by the same piece of internal framework as Mudflap, but he has the same range of movement in his hips (<i>mostly unhindered to the front and sides, but they bash up against his backpack fairly quickly when moved backward</i>), the same double-jointed knees, and the same articulation of his 'toes' and 'heels'... though I'm fairly sure that his heels are more <i>cooperative </i>than those on his brother's <i>HA </i>toy, and I've had <i>much</i> less difficulty getting him into interesting poses as a result.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Arcee:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">As mentioned in my write-up of <i>HA </i>Mudflap, the miniature Chromia toy basically <i>crumbled in my hands</i> when I finally got round to the write-up. Thankfully, Arcee - <i>who's actually using an interpretation of Chromia's design, in a curious, washed-out orangy-red plastic for the most part</i> - has held up far better... though that's <i>possibly </i>because she has fewer ball joints. The <i>design </i>is much simplified, and her head sculpt is <i>completely inaccurate </i>- resembling Nightbird from the <i>G1 </i>cartoon rather than <i>anything </i>out of the movies.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Bike mode looks decent enough, though it <i>sorely </i>lacking in paintwork - the exhaust pipes are covered with gunmetal paint, <i>but everything else is bare plastic</i>, with grey and black supplementing the base colour. At least the sculpted detail is excellent, albeit slightly <i>muddled </i>by the robot's arms sticking out a bit just in front of the rear wheel. There's a <i>touch </i>of gunmetal paint on her face, but that's the extent of it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Her transformation is <i>incredibly </i>simple - she basically just breaks apart and unfurls at the middle, via the grey hinge on each side, once the arms are unpegged. She stands fairly well in robot mode thanks to an oversized mudguard on the <i>front </i>wheel, which swings underneath it to act as a stable 'foot'. This does means she's stuck <i>standing up straight</i>, as the body has no real poseability in its joints, but the arms do fairly well... even if the left arm <i>itself </i>is stuck at a weird angle due to the way it transforms.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Mikaela Banes:</u></b>
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<div style="text-align: left;">The human figures included with the <i>Human Alliance</i> series are very variable in quality. Sam Witwicky and Agent Simmons had a <i>reasonable </i>likeness to their actors, while Epps and Lennox were pretty terrible... and, sadly, Mikaela is in the <i>latter </i>group. Her sculpt is based on her costume from the <i>end </i>of the movie, but the pink pattern on her jacket has been simplified to a consistent, but <i>super-pale</i> pink colouring of the part that wraps around her torso, while her sleeves are stark white. <i>Everything </i>from the waist down to the boots is painted white, giving her trousers a peculiar sheen.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The face sculpt is <i>utterly nondescript</i>, with very sloppy painting of the face (<i>bleeding over into her hair</i>) and the eyes (<i>making her look very cartoonish</i>), and the designers went a bit <i>overboard </i>on her makeup. She's not the worst <i>HA </i>figure, but she certainly looks nothing like Megan Fox.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">There's something incredibly <i>sad</i> about looking back at the <i>Human Alliance</i> toyline at a point when the <i>TransFormers Collaborative</i> line is producing analogous <i>GI Joe</i> crossovers, <i>all </i>of which so far have been <i>absolute crap, and overpriced with it</i>. I never picked up any of the smaller <i>HA </i>figures, most of which were more combat-oriented, but even <i>they </i>were better designed than the likes of HISS Tank Megatron, Thunder Machine Soundwave and AWE Striker Bumblebee.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">All the more sad is the fact that the <i>Human Alliance</i> line made decent toys out of two of the most <i>hated </i>Bayverse characters. It says something about the strength of the toyline that that was even <i>possible</i>. Skids is definitely better than Mudflap <i>overall</i>, mostly because he's far less <i>fiddly</i>, but both of them are surprisingly good <i>toys</i>, and <i>great </i>examples of the <i>Human Alliance</i> concept in practice. While I'm not a <i>GI Joe</i> fan, as such, I'd be <i>much </i>more inclined to look favourably upon those <i>TF Collaborative</i> figures if they'd been engineered even <i>half </i>as well as <i>Human Alliance</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Given the way engineering has been simplified and plastic quality has deteriorated over the last couple of years, I'm far less optimistic <i>now </i>about Hasbro revisiting this concept in future than I was when I wrote about Mudflap last year... and,<i> even if they did</i>, I suspect the toys would end up with <i>miserly </i>paintjobs, at a <i>ridiculously inflated</i> pricepoint, while being <i>more </i>prone to falling apart. It really does suggest that the TransFormers brand reached its <i>apogee </i>in the mid-to-late 2000s, and that we'll never see its like again... at least under the <i>current </i>management.</div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-75070138987097244712023-11-17T15:04:00.000+00:002023-11-17T15:04:16.883+00:00TransFormers: Waste of the Beasts... AKA Equivocation of the Franchise<p>I <i>said </i>I was going to see it... So I went to see it.</p><p>There were signs that the completed movie wasn't <i>quite </i>so bad as I had expected and/or predicted... Though, <i>even in that</i>, there are caveats. At this point, this whole thing is very much overdue - I saw the movie at the end of June, after all - and I'd started to wonder if I should even <i>bother </i>now. </p><p>I had, <i>of course</i>, read the <i>effusive </i>fan praise that appeared throughout the internet immediately after the movie opened <i>and had taken it with a pinch of salt</i>. I had read spoilers <i>and </i>comparisons between the movie shown in test screenings, <i>months ago</i>, and the final <i>theatrical</i> cut. I had read stories of <i>extensive </i>reshoots and disagreements between <i>teams </i>of Editors over what could be salvaged and made watchable <i>from a movie rumoured to be potentially about four hours long</i>. <i>None </i>of what I saw <i>or </i>read gave me any reason to doubt that <i>Rise of the Beasts</i> was an absolute disaster, <i>for Paramount, for Hasbro, and potentially for Steven Caple Jr.'s future career</i>. Given that it's now been almost <i>five years</i> since the <i>Bumblebee </i>solo movie hit the cinemas, I get the impression that some fans must have been suffering from <i>withdrawal symptoms</i>.</p><p>Potential spoilers ahead...</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>I'd originally started writing pretty much <i>a full summary</i> of the events of the film, but that got boring and frustrating, not least because the film just wasn't <i>memorable</i>. It comes across very much like a collection of scenes from a <i>longer </i>film, with much of the connecting narrative and context missing. </p><p><i>Rise of the Beasts</i> begins with its introductory exposition spoken by Ron Perlman's Optimus Primal, and we see a planet under attack by Unicron, with Scourge (Peter Dinklage, <i>though essentially unrecognisable and bringing nothing special to the role, just like Hugo Weaving as Megatron</i>) and a bunch of Scorponok drones sent in to retrieve <i>this </i>movie's McGuffin, the Transwarp Key. We're introduced to Apelinq, leader of the Maximals, and Optimus Primal. The former tasks the latter with escaping the planet with, and using, the Transwarp Key, to keep it out of Unicron's hands. Primal runs off, with Airazor, Cheetor and Rhinox in tow, while Apelinq holds Scourge back just long enough for them to escape via the portal created by the Key.</p><p>Now, anyone with any understanding of <i>Beast Wars</i> will have a fair idea of who and what the Maximals are... but for the casual cinemagoer, <i>or those who came to the brand through the Michael Bay movies</i>, these robotic animals would have needed some explanation... and, since the movie doesn't even <i>try </i>to be faithful to the only explanation available - the <i>Beast Wars</i> toy range, TV show and, more recently, comics - it's likely to have been rather <i>confusing </i>for much of the audience. The planet is clearly <i>not </i>Cybertron, <i>though many fans have presented the theory that it's a techno-organic Cybertron from the far-flung future</i>. Ultimately, in the context of the story, <i>it doesn't matter</i>. Unicron devours the planet for its Energon, <i>and it's never even referred to again</i>.</p><p>When we <i>next </i>meet the main group of Maximals, toward the <i>end </i>of the movie, it's <i>implied</i> that more of them escaped their home, yet Airazor is the last of <i>her </i>group, while Primal only has Cheetor and Rhinox with him. What happened to the <i>others </i>is never explained, but it's perfectly obvious that there never <i>were</i> any others, <i>because only this core group of four is ever seen</i>. Hell, Airazor never even transforms, making it <i>abundantly </i>clear that the movie hit the limit of its budget before her robot mode - <i>and any additional Maximals</i> - could be created.</p><p>What's crazy is that Airazor is technically the audience's <i>gateway </i>character to the Maximals. She's the <i>first</i> Maximal<i> </i>to appear in the main story, coming to the aid of the Autobots as Scourge, Battletrap and Nightbird are trying to acquire the Transwarp Key after some human interference causes it to fire off a sky beam (<i>which turns out to be conveniently invisible to humans and, credit where credit is due, at least it ain't a </i>blue <i>sky beam</i>). In theory, we should be able to <i>identify with</i> and <i>relate to</i> her, yet all she really does is deliver exposition in beast mode, <i>there's no sense of who she is as a character</i>. She remains in beast mode as she accompanies the Autobots through about half the remaining runtime of the movie, <i>regardless </i>of the circumstances... We fans will assume she <i>has </i>a robot mode despite never seeing it, but the part of the audience who <i>aren't</i> familiar with TransFormers, let alone <i>Beast Wars</i> specifically, won't understand what this robotic bird is all about, and what sort of car she turns into. Here, too, fans have been trying to fill in the blanks, suggesting that she needs Optimus Primal's <i>permission </i>to transform... Which <i>might </i>make sense if her beast form was the size of a real, organic eagle of some kind, allowing her to blend in at a distance... <i>but she's bigger in beast mode than some of the Autobots in robot mode</i>.</p><p>The other beasts are brought into the story toward the end, only transform into robot mode for the climactic battle, and it's entirely possible (<i>although strongly disputed by some fans</i>) that Rhinox has not a single line of dialogue. Cheetor has perhaps a couple, while Primal has but a handful. </p><p>Bumblebee takes a back seat in this movie and, rather than speaking in snatches of radio, his dialogue is made up of lines from movies and TV shows, <i>quoted in their entirety</i>, which is substantially less interesting. As seen in the trailers, he's unceremoniously taken out by Scourge in the battle at the museum, and then his corpse is carted around by the Autobots... They even bring him along to Peru for no readily apparent reason, only for him to miraculously return during the final battle. There's supposedly a scene <i>on the cutting room floor</i> in which raw Energon in the earth, <i>activated by either the Transwarp Key or by Unicron's arrival</i>, re-energises him and grants him a slightly upgraded vehicle mode. It's still a Camaro, but now it has offroad tyres and a rollcage over its windscreen... <i>None of which is ever either explained or even referenced</i>.</p><p>Similarly, the way the movies have always played fast and loose with the abilities of individual Cybertronians to scan new disguises - <i>sometimes multiple</i> - is taken even further in <i>Rise of the Beast</i>s. Mirage is introduced as a Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.8 but, when the Autobots first get together, he offers to transform into a variety of cars - <i>including a Lamborghini Countach and a Formula 1 racing car (the film's one and only homage to Mirage's G1 vehicle mode)</i> - as a means to encourage Noah to help the Autobots recover the Transwarp Key. He next disguises himself as a refuse truck - presumably using his holographic powers to project the parts of the vehicle that are in excess of his own mass but, again, <i>this isn't explained, it just happens</i>. Later on, he gifts Noah a part of himself that transforms into a multipurpose gauntlet and then, toward the end of the film, <i>after he's wrecked by Scourge while trying to protect Noah</i>, huge chunks of his body form an Iron Man-style exo-suit around Noah. If that weren't crazy enough, in one of the closing scenes, Noah has <i>rebuilt</i> Mirage back into his original Porsche form, using parts acquired by his dubious friend, Reek. The Bayverse films gave Cybertronians a constantly growing list of extra abilities to the point where, in <i>The Last Knight</i>, Bumblebee was apparently able to rebuild himself, Iron Giant-style, after being <i>literally blown to pieces</i>. The idea that any of the Autobots could reformat themselves as <i>a suit of armour for a human</i> really has no place in TransFormers fiction <i>unless </i>it can be explained. Fans have suggested that Mirage must be somehow 'special'... but there's no precedent other than the Marvel Comics story where Circuit Breaker refashions parts of captured Autobots and Decepticons into a giant robot 'suit' which she pilots or MECH from TransFormers Prime refashioning breakdown into an exo-suit for the injury Silas, and there's certainly no foreshadowing of this ability other than the gauntlet, <i>which itself goes entirely without explanation</i>. Most of the time, Mirage exists to be <i>the rebellious one</i>, and to make stupid jokes... such as his incredulous response to Noah describing him as "a work friend": "You've been <i>inside </i>me!". He's as <i>cocky </i>as the traditional Hot Rod,<i> and even less endearing</i>.</p><p>Much has been said about Optimus Prime's character arc in this film, and one of the <i>few </i>positive signs in the run-up to the movie's release was that Peter Cullen felt that <i>Rise of the Beasts</i> presented a version of Optimus that <i>he </i>was more comfortable with, versus the Bayverse psychopath. I can't say that I saw it myself. Prime was just as <i>petulant </i>and <i>violent </i>as the version from the earlier movies and, after Bumblebee was killed off, he stated plainly that he was going to <i>"take off [Scourge's] head"</i>. Their final showdown was just like any and all of the final showdowns with Megatron/The Fallen/Sentinel Prime/Galvatron/Lockdown from the earlier movies, and really didn't cast Optimus in a particularly positive light. Many fans have jumped to his defense, saying that, <i>sure</i>, Bayverse Optimus <i>may </i>have been a violent nutcase, but Bumblebee's death at the hands of Scourge gives <i>RotB </i>Prime a very clear <i>reason </i>for wanting to kill Scourge... That's as maybe, but even the philosophy of "an eye for an eye" doesn't cover Prime <i>dismembering, then decapitating </i>Scourge so violently. The throwaway line about showing Scourge <i>"the power of a Prime"</i> was pure <i>fanservice</i>, but fell flat for me, because there was no indication of <i>how </i>Optimus Prime was suddenly able to beat Scourge, <i>after being thoroughly trounced earlier</i>. The scene immediately after the museum battle has Optimus flinging a set of rolling stock wheels <i>as an expression of petulant anger</i>, and he's <i>utterly cynical</i> throughout the movie without explanation or context, and even chastises Bumblebee <i>and </i>Mirage for being more trusting of humans than he is. I'm also a little confused about how Prime's injuries from the museum battle got 'healed': he's shown to be still damaged<i> and sparking from his wounds</i> in the immediate aftermath of the battle but, by the time they're in Peru, he's back to full strength...</p><p>Noah's story is fairly interesting, but underplayed. <i>Supposedly</i>, he's former soldier and a technical whizz, but never really gets to do <i>anything </i>technical... or even soldier-ish, really. The movie shows that his family are important to him - <i>to the extent that he (a) gets involved in carjacking then (b) agrees to help save the world because of them</i> - but I'm undecided as to whether they're too big a feature of the movie, or not big enough... Certainly, they end up being mostly irrelevant, apart from an impromptu pep talk from his younger brother in the final battle. <i>Other than all that</i>, the main problem with Noah is that he spends most of the movie with that iconic Dreamwave look of dull surprise on his face. By all accounts, Anthony Ramos is <i>not </i>a bad actor, and he has claimed to be a TransFormers fan who discovered the brand through <i>Beast Wars</i>, but none of that enthusiasm comes through in his performance because of the way the character was written, and because of the lack of cohesive story progression.</p><p>Elena comes off even worse... She's a two-dimensional character who exists purely to move the plot along more swiftly, providing the next waypoint for their travels, provide a bit of historical detail here and there, and 'translate' various glyphs. Her 'codebreaking' skills are ultimately meaningless, however, as the control panel she would have used to save the day ends up getting damaged, so Prime has to destroy the Transwarp Key instead. I'd like to think there's a version of the movie on the cutting room floor where she actually gets to do something <i>significant</i>, but I rather doubt it.</p><p>When the action shifts to Peru - <i>thanks to Elena's convenient knowledge of anything and everything pertaining to the plot, and the timely arrival of Stratosphere, another Autobot with neither characterisation (unless you count coughing up one of his parts, similar to Jetfire in RotF) nor dialogue</i> - we get a brief tourism promo followed by a rolling battle on the roads as the Autobots make their escape. After this, we get the full scene - <i>featured in the trailers</i> - in which the Autobots meet up with the Maximals at a small jungle waterfall. From here, the film rushes on to the much-vaunted scenes at Macchu Picchu, and then to the final battle, <i>which is seemingly where most of the movie's CGI budget was wasted</i>.</p><p>The battle is <i>slightly </i>more coherent than those of the Bayverse movies, but it's a close-run thing, because it involves the Autobots basically mincing legions of <i>grey </i>cut-and-paste drones - Freezer and Novakane, <i>inexplicably extruded from the walls of Scourge's Transwarp portal structure</i> - against a vast, <i>grey </i>landscape, battling with the remarkably <i>grey </i>beasts, with Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Arcee providing <i>tiny hints</i> of actual colour, while brown-and-beige Wheeljack <i>blends in to the background</i> and the <i>largely grey</i> Mirage tries to tackle Scourge by himself. The other two Terrorcons are swiftly despatched by the Autobots and Maximals, <i>and there's never any sense that the odds are against them, even when Unicron dumps a load of Scorponok drones into the battlefield</i>.</p><p>When Prime realises that destroying the key is the only way to save the Earth (and Cybertron), the explosion leads to the entire structure being sucked up into the portal. Optimus starts to get sucked in as well, but is caught by Noah, whose exo-suit is somehow strong enough to hold Prime down until Primal swings in. At this point, all three are suddenly unaffected by the gravity of the portal as they make their escape... even though the road they're travelling along is slowly being sucked into the portal. It's one of those scenes that fans describe as "bad ass", but which make no sense in the context of what's been happening in the movie, let alone in real life... <i>And I gather this was a hastily-rewritten ending, when test screening audiences disapproved of Prime getting sucked into Unicron's grasp</i>.</p><p>As I mentioned at the start, there was <i>a great swell of effusive praise broadcast across the internet</i> upon the movie's release... but even <i>that </i>seemed to struggle to really capture and explain <i>why </i>this was <i>"the best TransFormers movie ever"</i>. The gaps in the movie - <i>said to be the result of editing what could have been a four hour movie down to a little over two, and the result of more than ten teams of editors trying to create something watchable</i> - are palpable. Footage used in the trailer was not in the movie. The chase scenes which were leaked as behind the scenes videos shot by fortunate tourists were not in the movie. The 'story' - <i>another generic 'Search for the McGuffin', just like every Bayverse movie</i> - had been edited down to the bare bones to keep it to a manageable runtime (<i>the studio's main takeaway from the Bay films being that they were too long, not that they were juvenile, tone-deaf, inconsistent, incoherent trash</i>). Fan chatter slowly started evolving, to the point where <i>my </i>point of view - <i>that the movie was among the worst of the franchise, and a return to the old Bayverse formula of awkward 'humor', McGuffins, and lazy storytelling </i>- became almost the <i>norm</i>. The main problem with the film was that the inclusion of the Maximals - particularly for so short a time and without any Predacons - had no real purpose in the story. The movie is called '<i>Rise of the Beasts</i>'... but, other than increasing the number of good guys on the final battlefield, <i>they're entirely unnecessary to the story</i>. They add <i>literally nothing</i>. They could have been replaced with more Autobots, or the existing cast of Autobots could have been developed further. Likewise, moving to Peru was pointless other than for sheer spectacle and to boost tourism into the area... But the geography of the movie was typically Hollywoodised nonsense.</p><p><i>Rise of the Beasts</i> is not a continuation from <i>Bumblebee</i>, though it does share the Bumblebee-as-Camaro design from the end of that movie, though it does feature a throwaway line from Optimus Prime to Bumblebee about a human who <i>"was good to you"</i>. Setting the movie about ten years after <i>Bumblebee </i>isn't a problem <i>per se</i>, but introducing characters who weren't even <i>seen </i>in the brief Cybertron sequences, changing those that <i>were </i>so dramatically, and making Optimus Prime so cynical <i>without providing any context</i> is a huge failure in storytelling. There was <i>one </i>Decepticon included in an early scene that ended up on the cutting room floor, leaving no real sense of how the Autobots' secret war has been progressing before the Terrorcons arrive. In the final battle, the Autobots and Maximals took on the Terrorcons and legions of drones, outnumbered hundreds to one, and were not only victorious, but got through the battle without any losses, despite being absolutely <i>creamed </i>by the three Terrorcons <i>alone </i>in the museum battle. Here, again, the fans have tried to fill in the blanks, some claiming that there was a deleted scene in which Unicron strips them of their power, so they face the Autobots as equals at the end... yet there's nothing in their attitude in that final battle to suggest that. Probably the biggest mistake in the movie was the introduction of Unicron as the main villain. It'd be like Marvel starting <i>their </i>cinematic universe by making <i>Avengers: Infinity War</i>. Where do you go from there? Any other lead villain they choose to introduce now - Starscream, Megatron, Shockwave, Overlord, Jhiaxus or (<i>heavens forfend</i>) another take on The Fallen - is just filler material before Unicron returns. And, then, much like the animated movie from 1986, <i>where do you go once Unicron is destroyed</i>?</p><p>Perhaps even worse, the <i>end </i>of the movie shows Elena has made good progress in here career as a result of the adventure, and Noah is about to embark on <i>a whole new adventure</i> thanks to the implied crossover with GI Joe... However, <i>nothing </i>is said of the utter destruction of the museum that Elena <i>used</i> to work in, and there's a strong implication that Noah's difficulty in gaining employment was because <i>GI Joe have been surveilling him and possibly even slandering him</i>. Then, the fact that Noah was able to <i>rebuild </i>Mirage from the parts that formed his exo-suit and spares acquired by Reek is very much something out of the <i>G1 </i>cartoon.</p><p>Things I <i>appreciated </i>about the film..? There really aren't that many. While the CGI looked better on the big screen than it did in the trailers I watched on YouTube, <i>it's still not a patch on the first movie, which is now 16 years old</i>. Better eyes than mine identified robot parts clipping <i>through</i> each other, either due to cut-price CGI, or being last-minute crunch work on rewritten scenes by a beleaguered VFX studio. I noticed that Optimus Prime's transformation follows much the same pattern as the <i>Studio Series</i> 102BB toy, at least until you get to the legs, and it's always nice when the CGI looks and moves <i>somewhat </i>like the toys. However, just about all the others were either too <i>complex </i>in their transformations, or just had robot modes that were <i>too far removed</i> from their vehicle modes. While I didn't find either of the two human leads even <i>remotely </i>engaging, at least they weren't as <i>whiny </i>and <i>entitled </i>as Shia LaBeouf's Sam Witwicky, or as <i>aggressively stupid</i> as Mark Wahlberg's Cade Yeager.</p><p>It probably goes without saying that I somewhat regret having watched <i>Rise of the Beasts</i>. That the director stated so plainly that <i>the studio don't care about continuity</i> says everything you need to know about the absolute state of the TransFormers movie franchise. It would honestly be better if Hasbro would approach Paramount <i>with a concept for a toyline already in development</i>, and get them to craft a story to promote it. Letting Paramount come up with stories, <i>sometimes mashing two or more together</i>, has resulted in some of the most <i>worthless</i>, <i>pointless </i>cinematic experiences I've ever had. Seeing <i>Rise of the Beasts</i> was my first trip to the cinema in <i>months</i>, on a free ticket from my best mate... and I genuinely wish it had been more exciting, if only because <i>he </i>spent money on it.</p><p>I'd been saying for ages before the movie came out that I had a horrible feeling that Steven Caple Jr. - a relatively new director - would be the scapegoat if <i>RotB </i>turned out to be a dumpster fire. Given that his first couple of movies were so well-received, I'd hate for this misstep to derail his career, but it's clear that <i>this is a job he should never have agreed to take</i>.</p><p style="text-align: left;"></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-69949689291882155772023-11-14T19:44:00.007+00:002023-11-14T19:44:57.513+00:00Beast Wars (Reissue) Scorponok<div style="text-align: left;">As a Collector who didn't become a <i>Beast Wars</i> 'fan' until <i>long after </i>the toyline had ended, the myriad reissues have been a great benefit to me. Much of my <i>BW </i>collection was obtained via the secondary market, but Takara Tomy's <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Telemocha" target="_blank">Telemocha</a> reissues back in 2007 allowed me to pick up <i>new </i>versions of key characters featuring more TV show-accurate paintwork, and the <i>Beast Wars Reborn</i> set from the previous year even included <i>retooled parts</i> for greater accuracy.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Hasbro's more recent reissue strategy has been haphazard at best, <i>trickling out random figures</i>, with a strong bias toward recycling the same old <i>G1 </i>molds we've seen in previous reissue lines, but the decision to reissue <i>Beast Wars</i> toys - <i>in recreations of their original packaging, no less</i> - allowed for some more direct comparisons with their <i>contemporary </i>output in the <i>War For Cybertron: Kingdom</i> toyline... and, surprisingly, some of the new toys came off <i>worse </i>for that comparison.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One such example, in my opinion, is Scorponok. I've covered <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2023/02/buzzworthy-bumblebee-creatures-collide.html" target="_blank">a version of the <i>Kingdom</i> figure</a> in another post, so let's take a look at the <i>original</i> figure... <i>or as close as one can get outside of the secondary market</i>.</div>
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<span><a name='more'></a></span><b><u>Packaging:</u></b>
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<div style="text-align: left;">I have to admit that, in retrospect, I rather like Kenner's <i>Beast Wars</i> packaging, not least because it was pretty much the <i>last </i>time any of the toys came with a <i>proper </i>character bio, on a cut-out-and-keep panel all of its own. The bold, scaly-textured red, the yellow interior of the box and the large beast eye on one side are all iconic brand elements and, coupled with the <i>almost fluorescent</i> green of the logo, make for a very <i>eye-catching</i> box. The large window on the front/top of the box, framed with a yellow glow, shows off the toy in its beast mode, emphasising the line's uniqueness. The one oddity is that the box art seems to show Scorponok in his <i>original </i>toy colourscheme rather than the updated, show-accurate colours of <i>this </i>release, but I guess they were aiming for <i>authenticity</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Of course, <i>in a way</i>, the box art is an oddity all by itself, since it's <i>a highly embellished</i>, far more horrific and spiky version of the character than either the toy <i>or </i>the CGI in the TV show. Even his Cyber-bee looks terrifying.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now, I don't have a lot of original <i>Beast Wars</i> toys that I bought in-packaging, so I don't have very many original bio cards but, <i>based on the few I have</i>, I'd have to say that reissue Scorponok's is <i>better</i>. It may have only a <i>two-line</i> bio in five different languages, but that's more than was included on Optimus Primal <i>or </i>Megatron's cards. It <i>also </i>includes details on the 'secret' weapon locations, along with the four-point (<i>Strength, Intelligence, Speed and 'Fireblast'</i>) stat system that Hasbro settled on a few years ago for the <i>War For Cybertron</i> Trilogy, but seem now to have unceremoniously <i>dumped </i>again.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The instruction sheet appears to be a fairly authentic 2-colour print, so nothing really exciting. I believe the format - folding out as a long strip rather than a poster - is also accurate to the original <i>Beast Wars</i> instructions but, <i>without digging out those that I have</i>, I'm not completely certain of this.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieayhz0DEm-PHJmHua80OldqZt0-OL_-2VcGhjH88n--jnCDapiQB4vmlI_vQ5ShUoEpZybzDd1In-N2p0jrJe-0rgTCNM349EcxOSm2VMaUbP_BYAl5hOAHPn6oSLFrw2xqeI2llG-dNkurGGcxpIgfIry6lU9C9reNwQ3z-wfdBMhMeePJrnbiSz/s3264/IMG_5579.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieayhz0DEm-PHJmHua80OldqZt0-OL_-2VcGhjH88n--jnCDapiQB4vmlI_vQ5ShUoEpZybzDd1In-N2p0jrJe-0rgTCNM349EcxOSm2VMaUbP_BYAl5hOAHPn6oSLFrw2xqeI2llG-dNkurGGcxpIgfIry6lU9C9reNwQ3z-wfdBMhMeePJrnbiSz/w200-h150/IMG_5579.JPG" width="200" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMdkFOlWdLs7HAN-X0SwTeCNKHyj5c1KuutJVlWIiULGwp-oEOGXEy0LpEC020OGuejMwZapUrJEoagfRF-m2gYVtwwAX_GM0pDRokwPbbwHK-5VRqIIhbAGD6nuTwFsKRwvALWmsSmk0RkdHDthjEThz84mYAl_gSxwTW9vcZ_PolYiiOrJfI85-/s3264/IMG_5582.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMdkFOlWdLs7HAN-X0SwTeCNKHyj5c1KuutJVlWIiULGwp-oEOGXEy0LpEC020OGuejMwZapUrJEoagfRF-m2gYVtwwAX_GM0pDRokwPbbwHK-5VRqIIhbAGD6nuTwFsKRwvALWmsSmk0RkdHDthjEThz84mYAl_gSxwTW9vcZ_PolYiiOrJfI85-/w150-h200/IMG_5582.JPG" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTjS8SD2b4Cn0d7zQoBjSK7GLmpP16gcfunQ5zvA-zILyApTAlJGJvZ9l2RXOfK-CNkI5gDuGwk8MbJhpAc5xTunQmSgWUPI-xFEhKXfF7UXzPSduWstl5Y3Kwvj9tusvcnFvZZBpny0TbYR496kNMnqxNvXSrIOQnB-SOTSOYD-GRY7BTVz7w6Fh9/s3264/IMG_5580.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTjS8SD2b4Cn0d7zQoBjSK7GLmpP16gcfunQ5zvA-zILyApTAlJGJvZ9l2RXOfK-CNkI5gDuGwk8MbJhpAc5xTunQmSgWUPI-xFEhKXfF7UXzPSduWstl5Y3Kwvj9tusvcnFvZZBpny0TbYR496kNMnqxNvXSrIOQnB-SOTSOYD-GRY7BTVz7w6Fh9/w200-h150/IMG_5580.JPG" width="200" /></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj00Q-u7gihvqbm9cKkgLIER2iDa3tNGdwz_p4-7wY_vWonOHlvyj4CTP6SW9vwAZE1Z53wzMPw9oA39JxtMS9QmJiKJqsngoC1JuueuntuogEyRTt9pXWptnaK_duStRGV9DhNUQxKYAxbXQu2hEGaIxIenouWDYgb59q5qNU-mEhPnp_lwEpmfLw_/s3264/IMG_5593.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj00Q-u7gihvqbm9cKkgLIER2iDa3tNGdwz_p4-7wY_vWonOHlvyj4CTP6SW9vwAZE1Z53wzMPw9oA39JxtMS9QmJiKJqsngoC1JuueuntuogEyRTt9pXWptnaK_duStRGV9DhNUQxKYAxbXQu2hEGaIxIenouWDYgb59q5qNU-mEhPnp_lwEpmfLw_/w150-h200/IMG_5593.JPG" /></a>
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<b><u>Beast Mode:</u></b>
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<div style="text-align: left;">Well, it's pretty certain that <i>this </i>toy isn't going to trigger any arachnophobes. Quite apart from its <i>bizarre </i>colourscheme, the cartoonish proportions and minimal detailing could never be mistaken for a real scorpion, and the best one can say for the beast mode head sculpt is that <i>it's reasonably similar to the TV show's CGI</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Based on what I've seen of the original toy, the <i>main </i>difference here seems to be that the <i>black </i>plastic has been replaced by <i>metallic grey</i>. The red remains consistent with the original, and it's difficult to say whether the translucent, metallic <i>blue</i> of the claws is the same shade, but it's certainly in the same ballpark. Sculpted detail is inconsistent, <i>perhaps due to wear on the mold</i>: the bobbles on one arm are well-defined and prominent, while the <i>others </i>are variable, some almost completely indistinct. Head and torso are sharp and clean, but the <i>tail </i>is patchy. The legs are almost <i>comically</i> short, and each set of four is molded as a single part, <i>hinged </i>at the base and <i>bridged </i>across the middle segments.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There's very little in terms of paintwork, but that's about par for the course for most Beast Wars toys. The tip of his stinger has a spray of red paint (a fairly close match to the red plastic), but everything else appears to be bear plastic.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">All of the toy's play features are as accessible in beast mode as they are in robot mode - the <i>left </i>claw can launch his Cyberbee, while the <i>right </i>can launch a couple of missiles, and the blade-tipped tail can be made to strike by pushing a protruding tab near its base. The tail is not <i>especially </i>effective in beast mode, and clears his own head by less than an inch when the spring-loaded action is deployed,<i> even with the tail bent fully forward at its first hinge</i>. The tail also leans to one side, <i>possibly </i>as a result of imprecise assembly <i>or </i>the softness of the red plastic used for the geared sections.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">While the beast mode head can't move, <i>as such</i>, the robot's feet protrude, and can move up and down on their transformation joints to (<i>very loosely</i>) resemble mandibles. The slim eyes are picked out in the same red paint as the tip of the tail, but they're so small, the paintwork really doesn't help them stand out against the metallic grey plastic.</div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Robot Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Part of the reason I didn't get into <i>Beast Wars</i> back in the day was that the robot modes looked so daft. Scorponok, in particular, <i>barely </i>looks robotic, and his proportions are every bit as wonky here as they are on the <i>Kingdom</i> version. The only difference is that the body and legs are better matched... even the shoulders and upper arms don't look <i>too </i>out of place, but the scorpion claws are <i>comically </i>oversized thanks to the spring-loaded features contained therein.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Due to the simplicity of his transformation, the robot's torso is made up of the beast mode's abdomen, so the sculpt has to serve a dual purpose. The sculpt works <i>well enough</i> in beast mode, but it was clearly designed with <i>robot </i>mode as the priority, with the armour broken up between the chest and the pelvis by a slimmer section that appears to feature some kind of pipes/cords/springs, and this detail is <i>repeated </i>on the <i>inner </i>face of the thighs, while the <i>outside </i>of each thigh has a large vent with three large braces over the top. The <i>lower </i>legs, molded in the translucent, sparkly blue plastic, are <i>alarmingly hollow</i>, with the kneecaps and the upper part of the shin comprised <i>entirely </i>of structural 'waffling', the inner faces featuring only the <i>implication </i>of detail, and the outer face bulked out to accommodate a hollowed-out design. The arms are perhaps the most <i>depressing </i>aspect of the toy as, while they look clean enough in beast mode, robot mode exposes the screws -<i> three in close proximity on each shoulder, and another on the outer face of each elbow</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">While the weapon gimmicks are accessible in both modes, they certainly make a lot more <i>sense </i>in robot mode, with the two independently spring-loaded missiles (<i>now in the left claw</i>) triggered by pulling the top of the claw open (<i>or pressing down on the raised plate at the wrist</i>), while the Cyber-bee is launched by pushing a dedicated lever just <i>behind </i>the claw. The missiles fire quite <i>forcefully </i>and travel a fair distance, but the Cyber-bee sort of just <i>flops out</i> of its claw and tumbles to the ground... it is substantially <i>larger </i>than I'd expected, though, since its wings are made out of two halves of the upper claw part. It's also nicely painted, with a yellow and metallic blue abdomen, silver mandibles and black eyes. Of the two gimmicks, the Cyber-bee seems to have been affected most by the age of the mold: the 'wings' are sometimes reluctant to peg together <i>securely</i>, the transformation spring on the abdomen is sufficiently strong to push the claw out of alignment, and the tooth on the trigger doesn't do a particularly good job of holding it in place - <i>sometimes just trying to re-seat the Cyber-bee causes it to try to launch</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The tail is also accessible as a weapon in robot mode, but its mounting on his back leaves its default position either sticking out backwards, or hinged up <i>approximately </i>diagonally upward behind his head. In this latter position, when triggered, it lashes out forward maybe a couple of inches, <i>but rests more than an inch above Scorponok's own head height</i>, so he'd have a hard time attacking anyone <i>shorter </i>than himself.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Where the likes of Optimus Primal and Megatron had head sculpts that were familiar enough to those of us who started collecting with G1, Scorponok's looks like a <i>caricature</i>. The top half looks like the answer to the question <i>"What if Robocop was a Conehead?"</i>, while the lower half is frozen in a robotic scream <i>the likes of which would give Edvard Munch nightmares</i>. The square 'mouth' appears to contain a grille, which reminds me of the image of Megatron on the cover of Marvel UK's TransFormers issue #56. That the exposed 'face' below the mask is so <i>gaunt</i> adds to the unsettling look, and I'd have to say I much prefer the stylings of Scorponok's animation model, <i>which made for the one good thing about the Kingdom toy</i>. His 'mutant' mask seems almost more appropriate to the <i>overall </i>look of the figure, combining insectoid mandibles at the front with <i>subtle </i>robotic details along the jawline, and a crown that reminds me of the Cylon named Lucifer from the 1970s version of <i>Battlestar Galactica</i>. The mask also features more paintwork than the 'true', robotic face, with red added to the crown and the sides of the jaw on both sides, and the eyes picked out in a thin, <i>greenish</i>-gold, <i>possibly </i>representing the glow from the gold inner visor <i>filtered </i>through the mask's lenses.</div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">As one might expect from a figure of this era, transformation is very simplistic, <i>but not without its interesting points</i>. Where the new toy opens the robot's chest and tucks its head into the gap, to be covered over by a folding panel, this one keeps the torso <i>intact</i>, but swings the tail and the robots head 180° via the pelvis, then has the legs rotate <i>back</i> 180° to peg into the inside of the chest, allowing the feet to close up and form the head. The tail has to be twisted 180° at its base in between modes, but the arms do <i>practically nothing</i> that can be called 'transforming' - the <i>most </i>you'd need to do is reorient the claws - and the scorpion legs simply <i>unwrap </i>from the torso.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Given the heavy use of ball joints throughout most of the <i>Beast Wars</i> toyline, I was surprised to find only <i>two </i>on Scorponok: the hip joints. Even those are supplemented by <i>independent </i>swivel joints at the top of the thigh. They can swing 90° forward, but only manage about 80° backward without <i>also </i>rotating the thigh. His knees can bend about 90° and the feet have independently hinged 'toe' and 'heel' parts, which allow for decent stability in more dynamic poses. In <i>both </i>modes, the arms can swing a full 360° at the shoulder, but only have about 30° <i>outward </i>swing due to the design of the shoulder parts. He has a swivel joint just <i>above </i>the elbow, which can bend 90° on a soft ratchet with just <i>four </i>notches. The claws can rotate a full 360° and the missile-launching claw has a hinged <i>lower </i>part so it can be moved out of the path of the missiles. His head is on a ball joint, <i>sunk below the shoulder line</i>, which allows a <i>tiny </i>bit of tilt and full 360° rotation with the mutant mask <i>closed</i>, but its range is significantly curtailed with the mask open.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Scorponok is <i>another </i>of those figures that I bought on discount - <i>a little below £20 in this case</i> - because the pricing of Hasbro's current crop of reissues is <i>always </i>more than I'm willing to pay, <i>even if I'm particularly interested in a figure</i>. Considering the molds they've chosen to reissue so far, that hasn't happened very often. Nevertheless, <i>for that money</i>, I certainly got an excellent deal. He's a fairly large toy - <i>equivalent to a contemporary Voyager class toy, at least</i> - feels quite sturdy, and is <i>packed </i>with features. Granted, his beast mode isn't anywhere near as <i>lifelike </i>in its sculpt as the <i>Kingdom </i>toy, but I'm not sure that's a <i>bad </i>thing, considering the entire <i>Kingdom </i>line of beasts couldn't seem to decide whether it was aiming for <i>show accuracy</i> or <i>realism</i>. In terms of beast mode articulation, this one does all it really <i>needs </i>to, <i>and does it well</i>, while the geared stinger strike is a fun gimmick in either mode, even if it feels a little rickety due to the soft plastic used on its moving parts.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The bottom line is that I enjoy Scorponok <i>a lot</i> more than I'd expected, and certainly a lot more than the <i>Kingdom </i>version... but it's <i>still </i>not something I feel I could recommend at its full, original RRP.</div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-76007244231952679992023-11-03T16:09:00.003+00:002023-11-05T11:46:11.489+00:00Ocular Max (MMC) Infinite Finity IF-01A Eris: Kultur Subjugation Alternative<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: right;"><i>
<b style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #f4cccc;">(Femme-Bot Friday #83)</span></b>
</i></div>
I'd be the first to admit that my knowledge of IDW's TransFormers comics is
<i>sorely limited</i>. I used to get the Marvel comics back in the 1980s but,
<i>as an adult</i>, comics just don't appeal to me quite so much. First and
foremost, they take up space that I'd prefer to use for <i>other </i>things.
Secondly, the individual paper comics require much more careful handling and
storage than graphic novels (<i>what Marvel UK used to refer to as 'Collected Comics' back in the day</i>) so, on the <i>rare </i>occasion I buy anything comics-related, it will be
in that form. But,<i> more than that</i>, my interest has always been mainly
in the <i>toys</i>, not any of the associated fiction, so the comics never
seemed especially <i>important</i>... Especially after they started following the US version in messing up all the characters in both <i>appearance</i> and <i>portrayal</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I acknowledge that this has probably led to me missing out on some
<i>excellent </i>stories, as well as the introduction of new characters who
had not been part of G1 or G2 in the Marvel comics... but media-only
characters always feel like <i>a waste of time</i> to me, considering any and all
TransFormers media is, fundamentally, <i>advertising for toys</i>. I may have
encountered <i>analogues </i>to some of them via the TransFormers Collectors'
Club, but they carried no special <i>significance </i>to me because I hadn't
been following the comics.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
However, there's always one <i>sure-fire</i> way to grab my attention with a
tertiary character, <i>and that's to make them a Femme-Bot</i>. And
here, Ocular Max - aka Mastermind Creations - have done just that. Some years back, they turned
the character of Tarn -
<i>erudite leader of the so-called 'Decepticon Justice Division'</i> - into a
figure in their <i>Reformatted </i>line - Kultur. It looked
interesting enough but, <i>lacking any connection to the character or even the concept of the Decepticon Justice Division</i>, it
wasn't as interesting to me as the <i>myriad </i>repaints of
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/mastermind-creations-reformatted-r-08.html" target="_blank"><i>Reformatted </i>Azalea</a>. While the majority of Ocular Max's output seems to have been
<i>G1 </i>Animation-style figures, the <i>Infinite Finity</i> line seems to
been created with the intention of branching out,
<i>possibly with an IDW focus</i>, while maintaining a degree of continuity with
<i>Reformatted</i>.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Eris: Kultur was the <i>first </i>figure from this line, revealed in 2020 and first released - <i>available exclusively via web store Planet Steel Express</i> - in 2021, with its
original colourscheme being a very limited run specifically for that web store. I wasn't really in a position to order it
<i>at the time</i>, but MMC/Ocular Max hinted at a recolour to be released
later, so I hedged my bets and waited.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And so, here is the result of my...
<i>patience</i>..? Or, <i>at the very least</i>, the response and solution to
my Fear Of Missing Out.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span><a name='more'></a></span><b><u>Packaging:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
MMC have always produced nice boxes for their products, and largely kept their
styles quite consistent. <i>Infinite Finity</i> appears to be drawing on a
similar kind of <i>retro-G1</i> packaging to their <i>Perfection Series</i>,
even down to typography, and without the window in the front of <i>some </i>of
the <i>PS </i>boxes. The whole thing has a matte finish, but with Spot UV
varnish on the front, covering the logo, name and character image, and a
silver foil application on the top flap highlighting the use of die-cast in
the figure. The <i>Infinite Finity</i> logo appears to be drawing on Takara's
<i>reworking </i>of Hasbro's TransFormers logo into Katakana, with its
distorted, angular lettering and blue-purple 'chrome' affect.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
There are product shots on the top and rear, with a smaller image of Eris -
<i>a slight variation on the cover image</i> - on the <i>righthand </i>side of
the box, a closeup of Eris's face on the <i>left </i>side, and all the usual
blurb on the bottom (<i>in Chinese</i>). The back of the box
<i>also </i>features something I really appreciate: a <i>G1</i>-style Tech
Specs card, <i>complete with a 'cut out and keep' dotted line frame</i>. It
includes a brief character bio (<i>which only takes up about two thirds of its box, so they should probably
have increased the point size of the text</i>), and the 'encrypted' stats graph which requires the use of a translucent
red 'decoder' card (<i>included, albeit about a centimetre too short</i>) to
read properly, <i>ticking literally all of my nostalgia boxes</i>. My only
complaint about the look of the box would be the almost total lack of
<i>contrast </i>on the artwork. The <i>photos </i>are fine, but the pictures
on the front and sides appear to have had some kind of <i>murky red</i> filter
applied, making it difficult to make out the details. Not <i>technically </i>a
complaint, <i>as such</i>, but I'd also add that her name is a bit...
<i>overcomplicated</i>? The front cover has it as
<i>"Eris: Kultur Subjugation Alternative"</i> (<i>or possibly "Eris: Kultur Alternative Subjugation", based on the
text layout and the version on the top flap</i>), but then the sides simplify it to <i>"Eris: Kultur Subjugation"</i>,
probably just due to space restrictions. Given that Kultur was the name of
MMC's <i>Reformatted </i>version of Tarn (<i>or, more precisely, "Kultur Mystery"</i>), this building on the name makes it a lot longer than it needed to be...
But it does seem to be one of MMC's habits.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Inside the packaging, Eris is contained within a clear plastic clamshell, in
robot mode, along with <i>two </i>separate resealable bags - one containing
the instruction leaflet, the 'decoder' card and a collectors' card featuring
her bio and stats (<i>displayed numerically</i>), the other containing her
weapon accessory. The instruction leaflet is formatted like the
<i>G1 </i>toys' leaflets - a single strip folding down to a square - and
similarly printed in 4-colour on both sides, but the artwork is vector
graphics rather than photos, and largely greyscale with red and purple
highlights. The collectors' card is of surprisingly <i>light </i>stock (<i>at 63mm x 88mm, it barely registers as 1g on my kitchen scales</i>), but is nicely designed and cleanly printed, with a matte finish.
<i>Neither </i>version of the bio offers any indication of what her guns
actually do, so I <i>presume </i>they're identical in function to those of
Tarn/Kultur... Now, if only I knew what <i>theirs </i>are supposed to do...
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It's also worth mentioning that there's a credits panel on one of the inner
flaps of the box, listing the figure's designer,
<a href="https://twitter.com/raptron1978" target="_blank">Makotron</a>, the
packaging artist,
<a href="https://twitter.com/artofchogoking" target="_blank">Chogoking</a>,
and even the product photographer, Ian Reid (<i>can't be certain of a web link for him, unfortunately, as there seem to be
several photographers with that name!</i>), along with a credit for YouTuber
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@Paik4Life" target="_blank">Paik4Life</a>,
who put together the official transformation video.
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Vehicle Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I have to confess, I'm getting more than a little <i>bored </i>with tanks as a
vehicle mode for TransFormers toys, and that goes <i>double </i>for Third
Parties,
<i>despite them being somewhat rarer and, at the very least, typically
appearing as the result of being an adaptation of a character who became a
tank in G1</i>. Eris forms the typical H-tank at first glance, with two sets of treads -
<i>each about 4cm/1.5" long</i> - on each side of a surprisingly low and flat,
<i>but fairly nondescript and largely black</i> tank body. These treads are
probably the <i>most </i>exciting feature of the figure, though, because
they're<i>
fully-functional, fully-articulated plastic chain-link treads, each hung
from two wheels inside the body of the vehicle</i>. This sort of detail just wasn't possible with their Tarn analogue, due to
the way the treads <i>transform</i>, but I think <i>any </i>tank toy is
improved by the inclusion of working treads, whether as rubber bands wound
around several wheels, or as solid, interlinked segments strung between just
two.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Something about the tank body puts me in mind of <i>Armada </i>Megatron... and
it's more than possible that was <i>wholly intentional</i>, given that
<i>another</i> version of Eris, <i>overtly based upon that toy</i>, was revealed later. Eris is rather more <i>symmetrically </i>designed, however, with both
the sculpted detail <i>and </i>the paintwork being identical on each side. The
sculpt is clearly designed with the <i>idea </i>of asymmetrical paint
applications in mind, albeit with detailing that hedges its bets on what it
actually <i>represents</i>, to the point where consistent paint applications
are just as effective. Where the PSX-exclusive version had a largely
<i>purple </i>tank body, this one is largely black -
<i>seemingly more like Tarn</i> - with a couple of vibrant purple chunks on
each side, between the tread sections, and some armour panels picked out with
pale metallic blue and darker gunmetal paint applications. The two 'shelves'
on each side of the front tread section are painted grey, there are panels of
<i>darker </i>purple paint on the front and rear, and small sections of
pinkish 'glow' have been dotted about.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
By comparison, the <i>turret </i>is fairly plain. It, too, is
<i>mainly </i>black, but with a grey upper section. There's substantially less
<i>intricacy </i>in its sculpted detail, and the overall shape of the turret
is far more 'sci-fi' than the body,
<i>to the point where it actually looks pretty incongruous</i>. The most
<i>egregious </i>issue is its size -<i>
it looks like the turret from a much larger tank, both by covering such a
wide area of the base body, and by being taller than the body</i>. While it's adorned with what <i>appears </i>to be sets of four small
missile pods on each side, it's mostly quite sleek, and the lion's share of
the paint applications are on the barrels of her cannons. Something I hadn't
twigged, <i>just looking at photos</i>, is that the gun barrels are each of
<i>unique </i>design. One is fairly <i>plain</i>, with just a bit of recessed
linework in the pink 'glow' paint and a ridged ring, painted with the pale
metallic blue, toward the base. The <i>other </i>features a section of narrow,
brassy-painted rings toward the tip, a panel in the pale metallic blue on the
underside and four strips of the pink 'glow' ahead of a ring of the pale
metallic blue which is interrupted by a raised 'sight' near the base. Right in
the <i>middle </i>of the turret is what appears to be a raised cockpit
section, with a circular 'hatch' detail on top, and windows painted with the
pink 'glow'. It all looks pretty good until you turn to the <i>back </i>of the
turret,
<i>which is entirely open, revealing the front of the robot's pelvis</i>. From
some angles, the use of black paint <i>somewhat </i>disguises how large this
concave section actually is but, honestly,<i>
it looks like there's a part missing</i>.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The turret can freely rotate 360° and is even able to tilt
<i>slightly </i>backwards thanks to one of the robot's waist joints, but the
barrels are limited to <i>downward </i>tilt, which then breaks their
continuity with the turret. I can't see any way of giving them upward tilt,
<i>given the way they connect</i>, but it's a strange oversight - particularly
in this day and age, to have a tank whose cannons are
<i>effectively </i>immobile along the vertical axis.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Strangely, just in front of the turret -
<i>and largely concealed by it when facing forward</i> - is a hatch/cockpit
detail <i>much like the one on the top of the turret</i>, but this one lacks
the pink paint in its sculpted 'windows'. It's flanked by two pairs of what
<i>appear </i>to be small, sculpted missile pods, painted purple, while the
very front of the tank has a couple of stumpy protrusions that are
<i>likely </i>in service of the <i>Armada </i>Megatron version of this figure.
The front of the tank also features a pair of pink headlights over each set of
treads, another feature derived from the <i>Armada </i>toy.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Vehicle mode is pretty weighty -
<i>partly as a result of this figure being larger than I'd expected, but
mainly because of the use of die cast metal for most of the turret/legs</i>
- but that seems fairly appropriate for an armoured combat vehicle... And it
certainly makes a change from Hasbro's typical output. I would have to say
that the mismatch between the purple plastic and the purple paint is both a
little strange <i>and </i>rather jarring, though it's more because the darker
shade of the paint better <i>complements </i>the mainly black tank versus
the brighter, warmer plastic panels separating the tread sections.
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Robot Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Given that she transforms into a tank, Eris is surprisingly <i>slinky</i> in robot
mode... But the biggest surprise for me, as soon as I opened the box, was how
<i>tall </i>she is - approximately 20cm/8" to the top of her head, when (<i>for no discernible reason</i>) I had been expecting her to be closer to the 13-14cm/5+" of the
<i>Reformatted </i>Azaleas. Based on a quick look over my shelves, I suspect
Eris is currently the tallest Femme-Bot in my collection, by quite a margin - while the
likes of Big Firebird's
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/big-firebird-toy-ex-01-nicee.html" target="_blank">Nicee</a>/Mooka and FansToys'
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2018/07/fanstoys-ft-24-rouge.html" target="_blank">Rouge</a>
are just a head taller than Perfect Effect's
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2020/06/fansproject-lost-exo-realm-ler-06-echara.html" target="_blank">Echara</a>
and
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2018/04/fansproject-lost-exo-realm-ler-05-comera.html" target="_blank">Comera</a>, Eris <i>towers </i>over them all, easily a head taller again <i>even without taking
her backpack into account</i>. Along with her substantial weight due to the handful of die-cast parts, her stature
gives her a real attention-grabbing presence despite her comparatively <i>muted
</i> colourscheme.
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In terms of sculpted detail, there are really no <i>surprises</i>: Eris is one of those transforming robot figures that efficiently reconfigures <i>most </i>of its vehicle mode mass to form the robot mode, with little or nothing <i>new </i>being exposed in the process. Aside from the head, the only <i>wholly new</i> detail is the chest panel, which is a faux-part slung on the <i>underside </i>of her tank mode. In keeping with the typical depiction of Femme-Bots, the chest is <i>narrower</i>, but less <i>flat </i>than MMC's Tarn, while featuring much the same detailing and <i>broadly</i> similar paintwork. The sweeping angled parts across the collar don't extend <i>beyond </i>the shoulder joints, while the central arrowhead extends <i>forward</i> as much as it does down, resulting in a discernible but decidedly non-human bust. The raised circular details (<i>reminiscent of eyes set in a torso that looks like an alternative take on the Decepticon insignia</i>) are picked out with both silver and pink paint, with <i>more </i>pink applied to recesses dotted around. All things considered, the <i>closest </i>thing to a genuine surprise offered by Eris' robot mode is that her backside <i>does not</i> present the much-maligned appearance of unnecessarily <i>separated butt-cheeks</i>... though the fact that it is nevertheless <i>curved</i> gives the impression of an inflated nappy.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'd have to say that, in terms of <i>overall structure</i>, she looks closer to an <i>Armada </i>Megatron analogue than to Tarn, if only because of the way the <i>arms</i> are handled: each upper arm is made up of <i>an entire tread section</i> from tank mode, albeit with the shoulder joint set halfway down rather than at one end of the treads, so the arms don't stick up from the shoulder quite so much. Given the repurposing of the mold, perhaps that shouldn't be a surprise, <i>particularly given MMC's longstanding habit of reusing molds for multiple characters</i> but, with Eris, it feels like the main connection to <i>Tarn </i>is her colourscheme more than any <i>other </i>aspect of her appearance. It's <i>also </i>a little disappointing that the <i>front </i>set of treads just ends up swung onto her back, <i>barely </i>transformed from their vehicle mode look.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div>
While her weapon in robot mode is basically just the vehicle mode's cannons,
attached via the most <i>minimal </i>rearrangement of their mounting, I'm quite
impressed by the <i>efficiency </i>of it, and how well it integrates into robot
mode. The cannons can be attached to either forearm and, being mounted
<i>themselves </i>via round pegs, each individual barrel gains a greater range of
movement than it had in vehicle mode. The size and mounting point of the
weapon does cause some problems with the <i>elbow </i>articulation, since the back
end of the <i>uppermost </i>barrel butts up against the upper arm's treads at about
the 45° mark, but a slight adjustment of the rotation joint above the elbow gives the
required clearance to bend the arm to its fullest extent.</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
One of the most interesting features of Tarn - <i>and something lazily omitted from Hasbro's own take on the character in the Legacy toyline</i> - was that what <i>appeared</i> to be
his face - <i>a minimally-detailed adaptation of the Decepticon insignia</i> - was
just a striking <i>mask</i> over a surprisingly normal, humanoid face. This has
been carried over to Eris, but her mask is rather more three-dimensional,
since it fits over a much <i>rounder</i> head sculpt. The similarity to the
Decepticon insignia remains strong, despite it being even more stylised -
<i>flaring out at the top, and coming to a much narrower point at the chin</i>. The
eyes are painted with a flat red, and there are little touches of black
paint around the <i>edges </i>of the mask to emphasise its angles.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Behind</i> the mask
is a clearly feminine visage, painted grey, with red eyes and the lips
highlighted with a purple lipstick smirk - which is to say, the <i>sculpt</i>
appears to be identical to the original release of Eris, but the paint
application (<i>or, more specifically, the angle of its application</i>) alters her
expression. This was perceived by many of those who bought this version as a
production error, since there <i>had </i>been images of a resculpted face which
appeared to be a clear homage to Brigitte Helm's iconic sneer in the movie
<i>Metropolis</i>. MMC's responses to this have apparently been <i>somewhat ambivalent</i>, saying at one point that
the <i>adjusted </i>head never went into production, but <i>also </i>that it was a
production <i>error</i>, and the new expression for this version <i>should </i>have been
both sculpt <i>and </i>paintwork.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Personally</i>, I'm not too fussed - the paintwork
does an <i>adequate </i>job of conveying her expression, even though it's applied
to a sculpt it doesn't match... and I honestly <i>prefer </i>her eyes being
balanced. What <i>I </i>find strange about this head sculpt is that <i>the helmet
appears to resemble Deathsaurus/Deszaras, or possibly Leozack from the
Liokaiser gestalt, more that it does Tarn</i>, thanks to its beak-like silver
protrusion over the brow, the extra set of eyes, and the 'cat ear'
protrusions from the crown. She also lacks the large silver discs from each
side of Tarn's head... so about the only thing she has in common with Tarn's
head is the overall <i>colouration </i>and the central crest on her forehead. While
I know the upcoming Eris: Armadon figure has a wholly new head sculpt
featuring <i>Armada </i>Megatron's 'antlers', this sculpt makes me wonder if we
should expect to see previews of one or two <i>additional</i> versions of Eris based on villains from
the <i>TransFormers: Victory</i> anime.
</div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
With the upper body and backpack forming the <i>base </i>of the tank, the legs
forming the <i>turret</i>, and the cannons being a removable accessory, there
are obvious comparisons to be drawn with the
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/generations-darkmount.html" target="_blank"><i>Generations </i>Straxus</a>
and
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2016/02/generations-skullgrin.html" target="_blank">Skullgrin</a>
figures. Thankfully - despite the increased size <i>and </i>complexity of Eris
- she is, if anything, <i>easier </i>to transform... Or, at least,
<i>less prone to things popping off during the process</i>. Since this was a
fairly expensive figure, I referred to a video for my
<i>first </i>transformation, <i>mainly </i>to get the hang of the legs. Since
then, I've followed the printed instructions and, <i>just for a change</i>,
they're actually pretty good. Not only are the images clearly presented, but
there's some brief text with each step explaining what should be accomplished.
<i>Most </i>of it is very straightforward, just somewhat <i>unusual </i>when
one is more accustomed to Hasbro's more <i>basic</i> solutions to engineering
problems. Considering how little the backpack actually <i>does </i>- it
basically accounts for the front half of vehicle mode, but doesn't exactly
'transform' <i>in and of itself</i> the way the rest of the figure does - I
almost wish they'd come up with an alternative vehicle mode that didn't
<i>require</i> such large, unwieldy chunks to hang off the robot mode's back.
The back end of the tank is remarkably simplistic, with the forearms
<i>compressing </i>and the shoulders <i>reconfiguring around the head</i>,
while the torso opens out at the front -
<i>to give the treads some ground clearance</i> - and swings up and over from
the back to conceal the head. The waist bends 90° to get the pelvis into its
turret configuration, then the legs simply bend to the fullest extent of the
knee,
<i>allowing the calves to peg into the backs of the thighs, and for the feet
to tuck into the armour at the top of the thighs</i>. To be honest, though, I might have preferred <i>larger </i>feet that fill
out that <i>massive cavity</i> at the back of the turret. The cannons peg into
her backside, and the thighs peg into each side of the mount to secure it in
place. One very cool aspect of the transformation is the way a small section
from each side of the pelvis flips up 180° to <i>restrict </i>the movement of
the waist while the legs are in the turret configuration. Now that I've got
the hang of her transformation, the only <i>complaints </i>I have are
that the mask has a tendency to <i>pop off</i> while being concealed at the
back of the tank, and the inner thigh panels -
<i>intended to cover over the void left by her hips' transformation joints</i>
- are difficult to deploy, and then far too loose to <i>stay </i>closed, to
the point where I'm often inclined not to <i>bother</i>.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
MMC/Ocular Max have proven to be among the best at creating
<i>highly articulated robots that nevertheless transform into convincing
vehicles</i>, and Eris is no exception. In fact, as far as the waist is concerned, I'd be
tempted to suggest she's <i>too</i> highly articulated. As well as
unrestricted rotation (<i>advantageous for tank mode</i>) she can tip forward
<i>or </i>arch backward, <i>and </i>tilt slightly from side to side. The legs
and feet are fairly standard <i>but for two main points</i>. Firstly, the hips
rotate at a 45° angle (<i>one of my least favourite features on any action figure</i>) so their full range can only be accessed by rotating the <i>thigh</i> in
one direction at the top, and then <i>compensating </i>by rotating it the
<i>opposite</i> way just above the <i>knee</i>,
<i>which then breaks up the sculpt of the thigh</i>. Then there's a
transformation joint just <i>below </i>the calves which allows the lower legs
to fold <i>out </i>and peg in to the thighs to complete the turret, but it's
slightly misaligned, such that its stopping point for robot mode is
<i>a touch beyond the vertical</i>. This is then <i>compounded </i>by the
overly complicated feet, which can rotate <i>and </i>tilt sideways at the
ankle,
<i>and then have separately jointed heels, bridges and toe-points, making it a
real pain to get both feet levelled for posing</i>. In all honesty, though, the problem <i>isn't</i> getting her into <i>dynamic </i>poses...
it's getting her it's <i>neutral, straight-legged</i> poses that becomes an exercise
in <i>constant, tiresome tweaking</i> of every joint, from the feet up, and then
trying to get the <i>other </i>leg to match. The arms are fairly standard, with 360°
rotation at the shoulder (<i>backpack permitting</i>) and a
<i>slight </i>butterfly joint due to transformation. The ability to shift the
shoulder mass <i>down </i>for transformation <i>also </i>allows the arms to
swing 90° <i>out to the sides</i>, while the
<i>standard </i>configuration ends up with the shoulder mass<i>
hitting her in the head at about the 30° mark</i>. There's a rotation joint just <i>above </i>the elbow, which can bend to the
standard 90° via its single hinge. The wrists can rotate, tilt up and down (<i>perpendicular to the flat of the hand</i>), and then the fingers are all <i>individually</i> jointed, even down to
allowing them to <i>splay</i>, giving access to a variety of expressive
gestures... Though they are likely the most <i>fragile </i>and
<i>fussy </i>part of the figure, so I'm a little <i>reluctant </i>to play with
them too much. The head is on an alarmingly<i> </i>tight ball joint (<i>granted, not as tight as the neck on Perfect Effect's
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/perfect-effect-pe-dx05-beast-muscle.html" target="_blank">Leonidas</a> or the ankles on their Dino-Femme-Bots, Echara and Comera</i>) which is then hinged at the base, allowing for a substantial range of
motion.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The fact that this is a Femme-Bot knock-off of a <i>now-canonical</i>, IDW-created
character doesn't change the fact that, <i>for me</i>, it's the vastly more interesting figure of the
two. Additionally, <i>were I sufficiently interested in Tarn</i>, Mastermind
Creations have released their own version which includes the mask gimmick of
the original design. Quite how Hasbro expected to get away with releasing a <i>Legacy </i>toy that <i>lacked </i>such a feature is beyond me. OK, theirs is <i>massively
</i> cheaper... but it's still lacking what some might consider to be a distinctive, not to say <i>character-defining</i> feature.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div>
I have been a fan of MMC's Femme-Bots since their very first release of the
original Azalea mold (<i>and, to an extent, in spite of their somewhat excessive reuse of it!</i>) and, while I have no idea of - or interest in - who Tarn <i>is</i>, I can appreciate a striking
<i>design </i>when I see one. Eris takes that design, refines it
(<i>kinda</i>) and feminises it, to create
<i>a wholly new and distinctive design for a Femme-Bot</i>. While I
can't say for certain I'll be buying any of the repaints (<i>Armada Megatron already announced, but I can foresee some others along the
way even if they don't do an automatic repaint into Armada Galvatron</i>), I will certainly keep an eye out for future Eris figures with new and
unique molds. After all, her main character trait, according to her Tech Specs
bio, is that her <i>"outlier ability can now transmogrify her exo-skeleton along with giving
her the same skill set of any combatant"</i>.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Eris feels substantial and sturdy in hand, has a fun transformation, and looks great in both
robot and vehicle mode (<i>albeit with an incomplete and somewhat oversized
turret on the latter</i>). Having her <i>almost </i>raises my interest
in the <i>Legacy </i>Tarn figure... <i>But only almost</i>.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
When I missed out on the original release of this figure, I was naturally
disappointed... but I feel that my patience paid off, as the
<i>dialling-down</i> of purple on the figure makes for a
<i>truer </i>representation of a feminised version of Tarn,
<i>albeit with a more traditional-looking tank as her vehicle mode</i>. The
fact that she is so much <i>larger </i>than I'd expected,
<i>and features a fair amount of die cast metal</i>, means that she feels like
even <i>better </i>value for money. The best thing about this version of the
figure is that it's <i>not </i>exclusive to a single online retailer. I picked
mine up from TFs-Express for a little under £120 <i>including shipping</i>, though it
<i>appears </i>as though she was eventually shipped via their UK partners, Omegalock,
who currently list her as <i>out of stock</i>.
</div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-81153717742096825462023-10-22T13:52:00.003+01:002023-10-26T14:59:49.735+01:00Fun With Chrome<p>
A few years ago, I discovered the YouTube channel
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@toypolloi/videos" target="_blank">Toy Polloi</a>, which offers both reviews of vintage toys and documents repair work to
those that are damaged. Through this channel, I learned that there are pens
available which can (re)apply chrome to toys where it has worn away. These
pens are made by
<a href="https://www.molotow.co.uk/markers-inks" target="_blank">Molotow</a>,
and come in a variety of nib sizes. This information I squirrelled away until,
after my birthday this year, I found myself with some Amazon vouchers left
over, and decided to treat myself.
</p>
<p>
Now, it's been years since I did any <i>proper </i>customisation on any of my
TransFormers toys, most of which was to underpainted movie toys (<i>no surprise
there</i>) and was not exactly <i>extensive </i>or <i>detailed</i>. The idea of being able to
add chrome via what is essentially <i>a felt-tipped pen</i>, rather than <i>brushes</i>, was
instantly appealing, and I started combing through my collection to pick out
toys that would benefit the most from some added <i>shine</i>.
</p>
<p>
It turned out to be quite a fussy process: the 'ink' takes absolutely ages to
dry properly <i>(I found that best results were achieved by leaving it for 24
hours, just in case</i>) and, in the meantime, is <i>uncommonly easy to smudge,
smear, or ruin with fingerprints</i>. Nevertheless, the results so far have been
more than satisfactory.
</p>
<p>
<span></span></p><a name='more'></a>I started out with the <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2018/02/power-of-primes-evolution-optimus-prime.html" target="_blank"><i>Power of the Primes</i> Evolution Optimus Prime</a> -
which had already had some Reprolabels added - applying chrome to the combined
form's thighs, smokestacks and battlemask... but quickly extended coverage
elsewhere. Here's an in-progress picture, to compare before (<i>left leg</i>) and
after (<i>right leg, smokestacks, battlemask, grilles</i>):
<p></p>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHCVtN4R1S5BtBQaiuKfvGCluT5R3k6iD4j6vi2SuhKItUQE-aXRC28zphnoCTiH2zJpXJeddGflXx2mN5xhADae1fXCCcYqrZ-CSHiA2MnkUEaqwbxsaJw0l2x5-sEQJeL2HJ9B350lv9vTqL2kxGi1TZeSBai4blK_MJcV2Joq8e4UmRjt3LbIpCuj4/s3264/IMG_6052.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHCVtN4R1S5BtBQaiuKfvGCluT5R3k6iD4j6vi2SuhKItUQE-aXRC28zphnoCTiH2zJpXJeddGflXx2mN5xhADae1fXCCcYqrZ-CSHiA2MnkUEaqwbxsaJw0l2x5-sEQJeL2HJ9B350lv9vTqL2kxGi1TZeSBai4blK_MJcV2Joq8e4UmRjt3LbIpCuj4/w300-h400/IMG_6052.JPG" width="300" /></a>
</div>
<p style="text-align: left;">
The end result is, <i>I think</i>, a huge improvement on the stock figure, <i>with far less investment of time and effort than traditional painting methods</i>. I added just
a few touches on Orion Pax, but plenty of highlights on vehicle mode <i>and </i>the
combined form. I didn't quite get <i>all </i>the glue off his vehicle mode
petrol tanks, so they look a bit rough, but I'm otherwise quite satisfied. The
combined mode probably <i>still </i>needs more red on the torso and more blue on the
lower legs, but that's a more significant undertaking:
</p>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEYUPsv-7EePOvQidksBcWXv4ggG4z_Cyk8p-oH6a-cERbCTh_uqLLZvLROCFHCuFvPDcpGxn0nCjIBFcJXijYybdqlaThg8e6SkFqNPlYZbJ20Hxcv9jXt3LRog_P5pqHMxmw-Ls34PKj5b8oq62ugyeoFi3Ng3UMQk8NrnesHi804xgCyiHM3nl41BE/s3264/IMG_6095.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEYUPsv-7EePOvQidksBcWXv4ggG4z_Cyk8p-oH6a-cERbCTh_uqLLZvLROCFHCuFvPDcpGxn0nCjIBFcJXijYybdqlaThg8e6SkFqNPlYZbJ20Hxcv9jXt3LRog_P5pqHMxmw-Ls34PKj5b8oq62ugyeoFi3Ng3UMQk8NrnesHi804xgCyiHM3nl41BE/w150-h200/IMG_6095.JPG" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFLHD-6i5k9wNC-kfze5v1ziOqnxN3dHp-yzak_oJkHOJ9131OGhPyKkiIG9m0RCuiM0jlwY2hF-1JDrWiql6sDIYAJj8EZDtefeIIsHuMvLgPjhV0nEb7KmKtt7mDPi2RZysju4Eka4OP3oTlD50kvGOPf7f3CkyoTcWhI_E_M0KHoG88SoD2P3Q-bA/s3264/IMG_6093.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFLHD-6i5k9wNC-kfze5v1ziOqnxN3dHp-yzak_oJkHOJ9131OGhPyKkiIG9m0RCuiM0jlwY2hF-1JDrWiql6sDIYAJj8EZDtefeIIsHuMvLgPjhV0nEb7KmKtt7mDPi2RZysju4Eka4OP3oTlD50kvGOPf7f3CkyoTcWhI_E_M0KHoG88SoD2P3Q-bA/w200-h150/IMG_6093.JPG" width="200" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4FEzc_RfsdwVbdvHqB5-nnFZC6pStGVu0pGq-knL-1ZFT-4ccb6s-uZ7aR0m2hs2qnT8zW8QdyMZ94_po8-SOOGo7NbfZqDZdRKjfPGkQJTDudeMLrNodTGCsSNT4ioXaL8fgOULFn5i4uKz4bfrBvhuDrWbKz2htxN51foi48vKdlCMDtbPhrHQELo/s3264/IMG_6096.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4FEzc_RfsdwVbdvHqB5-nnFZC6pStGVu0pGq-knL-1ZFT-4ccb6s-uZ7aR0m2hs2qnT8zW8QdyMZ94_po8-SOOGo7NbfZqDZdRKjfPGkQJTDudeMLrNodTGCsSNT4ioXaL8fgOULFn5i4uKz4bfrBvhuDrWbKz2htxN51foi48vKdlCMDtbPhrHQELo/w150-h200/IMG_6096.JPG" /></a>
</div>
<p style="text-align: left;">
After this, it seemed logical to give the <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/power-of-primes-evolution-nemesis-prime.html" target="_blank">Evolution Nemesis</a> <i>and </i><a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2018/10/power-of-primes-evolution-rodimus-prime.html" target="_blank">Rodimus Prime</a> figures similar treatment, both of which turned out to be easier, if
only because I didn't have the faff of trying to <i>remove </i>Reprolabels
from them, <i>or cleaning off the glue left behind</i>. Nemesis Prime's battlemask is narrower <i>and </i>partially
covered by the sides of the helmet, making it far more difficult to cover effectively, but that worked out <i>pretty well</i> also. I didn't apply
as much chrome to the robots themselves, instead taking the opportunity to
make his <i>weapons </i>stand out a bit more. For Rodimus, I didn't go far beyond the most obvious: the exposed engine block, the exhaust pipes and the wheels.</p>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipIdbsM3oC8GKRY7I2vNufx9IFu943ThXRw3TI20w-4EBNoLiGs-wGm2eJMbZUYURnei8nxRiUNQJG4gy3WG5RywT8803HnD_aAT02HkpZafRYFem5FLkwbiDLzTRAlVSP29UYwpqNeGDDO_T93wHni6rS-61rSU0RQYUwzU-8aCxcoX_uVA_aMr8wSt8/s3264/IMG_6087.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipIdbsM3oC8GKRY7I2vNufx9IFu943ThXRw3TI20w-4EBNoLiGs-wGm2eJMbZUYURnei8nxRiUNQJG4gy3WG5RywT8803HnD_aAT02HkpZafRYFem5FLkwbiDLzTRAlVSP29UYwpqNeGDDO_T93wHni6rS-61rSU0RQYUwzU-8aCxcoX_uVA_aMr8wSt8/w200-h150/IMG_6087.JPG" width="200" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3FIYnyh17rTC1iaJVniN6loX0MAkrbRKB7NYbED85syELEvfQ-cGiXXEACZIdiv0ZyyXIc9cFIBDVDRcujtcj-Rs7waJDOCgMKpWnJDVOlAOFUIOyHegmkzjtsJfEbXW8C2YKyUCxDUSCNIksY_MDH6qnVHY2tfrZ3OBb2vO_f8QyHld5eZFoFgsDHmY/s3264/IMG_6089.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3FIYnyh17rTC1iaJVniN6loX0MAkrbRKB7NYbED85syELEvfQ-cGiXXEACZIdiv0ZyyXIc9cFIBDVDRcujtcj-Rs7waJDOCgMKpWnJDVOlAOFUIOyHegmkzjtsJfEbXW8C2YKyUCxDUSCNIksY_MDH6qnVHY2tfrZ3OBb2vO_f8QyHld5eZFoFgsDHmY/w200-h150/IMG_6089.JPG" width="200" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwS8nySxmBzH6JT4jaJ0NB3lHeBUAdVcgmO7IsFJW5WFNDkq6Hxjpsf6pMYfDx_gYbwMTbRevzWJAdCYsxoR5UTsbRVExShys-Jtttkf6YIMmtMaYREzA7XI3kogIIKiwn9T3gC3obSprxM2Xysqm0pGMtMUKT4fLiFejzSUtnFrxc2Sw5RFsGBrblsV0/s3264/IMG_6097.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwS8nySxmBzH6JT4jaJ0NB3lHeBUAdVcgmO7IsFJW5WFNDkq6Hxjpsf6pMYfDx_gYbwMTbRevzWJAdCYsxoR5UTsbRVExShys-Jtttkf6YIMmtMaYREzA7XI3kogIIKiwn9T3gC3obSprxM2Xysqm0pGMtMUKT4fLiFejzSUtnFrxc2Sw5RFsGBrblsV0/w150-h200/IMG_6097.JPG" /></a>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguhkhhBRFUm89CPDzGDlAvGOxqiMG-43FneZMzFdHTbyaCwbp0lThw7Iwi4rEUz2_pjEECjrSVXm78BxPRXERcEAenfzzY1WccOz2P3Eq2NUbQ_YL2XrJjrrUfkZXlnhfblBBr0I4l6n8rh8i8JcxHmdq0zVoTl_HIpZ_mhAjE2e7tfqz2DwZMstL3qXE/s3264/IMG_6098.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguhkhhBRFUm89CPDzGDlAvGOxqiMG-43FneZMzFdHTbyaCwbp0lThw7Iwi4rEUz2_pjEECjrSVXm78BxPRXERcEAenfzzY1WccOz2P3Eq2NUbQ_YL2XrJjrrUfkZXlnhfblBBr0I4l6n8rh8i8JcxHmdq0zVoTl_HIpZ_mhAjE2e7tfqz2DwZMstL3qXE/w150-h200/IMG_6098.JPG" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFZN0aQi4ueAFw6Zo90R6bCfmDZds-wvVXguy3DqRiXLeWTQWavm89GtW2oOGNA3ingyasEGGbkCFj4vpcRL7Z-L3dz3e5n33_Px-X7zxGm1zh82eYsKBgz9VgT6DUR-tT3-AQSxXm8oSWy14p7noPdiP439tSpA6f6-ByflXZ2B5cHBd5Y2Z1ERqElok/s3264/IMG_6104.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFZN0aQi4ueAFw6Zo90R6bCfmDZds-wvVXguy3DqRiXLeWTQWavm89GtW2oOGNA3ingyasEGGbkCFj4vpcRL7Z-L3dz3e5n33_Px-X7zxGm1zh82eYsKBgz9VgT6DUR-tT3-AQSxXm8oSWy14p7noPdiP439tSpA6f6-ByflXZ2B5cHBd5Y2Z1ERqElok/w200-h150/IMG_6104.JPG" width="200" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIu7d7iLNhl2q0JQ8evFaYz8tz5DEUugO9NLnOO7hzrCsoLVG4cSyjCWVd9PHjz8g1dmb2zKYBdoHDmXlhwIYqrmwtEwuyXC33gO-894XvFDSfxLIIDZwr0DGSr8IYizGHHRkEnQr_hnFtEvasm9eaWSYBtSzyPzHnd_ATdBCLFUcjK1IVzmXk2VxNzmU/s3264/IMG_6106.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIu7d7iLNhl2q0JQ8evFaYz8tz5DEUugO9NLnOO7hzrCsoLVG4cSyjCWVd9PHjz8g1dmb2zKYBdoHDmXlhwIYqrmwtEwuyXC33gO-894XvFDSfxLIIDZwr0DGSr8IYizGHHRkEnQr_hnFtEvasm9eaWSYBtSzyPzHnd_ATdBCLFUcjK1IVzmXk2VxNzmU/w200-h150/IMG_6106.JPG" width="200" /></a>
</div>
<p style="text-align: left;">
I <i>also </i>had a go at <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2022/09/jurassic-park-x-transformers-tyrannocon.html">Tyrannocon Rex</a>, since she's so <i>bereft </i>of painted detail,
though I decided to be a little more sparing with her initially, just
touching up her robot mode chest, pelvis and thighs, later adding a touch of
chrome to the left arm's bicep and elbow, and the launchers mounted on her
hips. It was tempting to try to highlight the 'teeth' on her collar as well, but I think I'd need a finer nib to avoid making a mess there:
</p>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9mYHO8Hjmln80WAZtbpShkAqFM_vc4HUib_9oqK8yYagCUAYdOW01-u3TLfSwAOscR3EJI9FLzo22VbfTj5x8I8vcjNmUMjreBEmOFeUhOwt8W9_clE7jLq4CzJdfeKR_tOBi7VzvXQcc3mJXzYG7nLnzyMbubYV6NmS4xr5t_6uCLt07oNI_EJN1vYY/s3264/IMG_6110.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9mYHO8Hjmln80WAZtbpShkAqFM_vc4HUib_9oqK8yYagCUAYdOW01-u3TLfSwAOscR3EJI9FLzo22VbfTj5x8I8vcjNmUMjreBEmOFeUhOwt8W9_clE7jLq4CzJdfeKR_tOBi7VzvXQcc3mJXzYG7nLnzyMbubYV6NmS4xr5t_6uCLt07oNI_EJN1vYY/w400-h300/IMG_6110.JPG" width="400" /></a>
</div>
<p style="text-align: left;">
Next up, I took a look at some <i>Studio Series</i> toys: <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2022/09/studio-series-88-sideways.html" target="_blank">Sideways</a>, <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2023/04/studio-series-93-hot-rod.html" target="_blank">Hot Rod</a>, <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2021/11/studio-series-75-jolt.html" target="_blank">Jolt</a> and
the <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2019/07/studio-series-38-bumblebee-movie.html" target="_blank">Bumblebee movie Optimus Prime</a>. Sideways was <i>desperately</i> in need of
additional paintwork for his robot mode, and chrome seemed like the ideal
choice. It was a bit fussy to apply, and I ended up giving him a pretty
extensive coverage on his arms <i>and </i>legs, but I think the end result is a
<i>massive </i>improvement on the stock figure. Hot Rod only got a few touches on his
robot mode's <i>detailing</i>, but I may go back and chrome his wheels. Jolt,
<i>similarly</i>, only got a few touches, and I'm still debating whether or not to
add some chrome to his whips. Prime got similar treatment to the <i>PotP</i> version
- wheels, smokestacks, the backplate of the cab, rear bumper, then thighs,
inner chest panel and a few of the mechanical details. Some of it wasn't as
<i>neat</i> as my earlier efforts, but by this point, the pen's nib had started to
<i>fray</i> a little.
</p>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCDLfLWpq4xf_xzKZEWn0s3MPhP5jnqU7bJDlxCGe28Z9ifTXalQ8iJangOsYjR6RnFcYjPE7brN0dDhbdpLeycyYNWKc3ecM4wGmqj2CMET6ZcP8TErrw0VyiEYG0HTcJavCqCbNA_zXLSKBKxwXBDqCSICvr1d5cGeC9X9aV3tM5fgi_h8N3U1rmis8/s3264/IMG_6112.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCDLfLWpq4xf_xzKZEWn0s3MPhP5jnqU7bJDlxCGe28Z9ifTXalQ8iJangOsYjR6RnFcYjPE7brN0dDhbdpLeycyYNWKc3ecM4wGmqj2CMET6ZcP8TErrw0VyiEYG0HTcJavCqCbNA_zXLSKBKxwXBDqCSICvr1d5cGeC9X9aV3tM5fgi_h8N3U1rmis8/w150-h200/IMG_6112.JPG" width="150" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivmE7zhrwr9YwJWO2hAK4VEgEKS9XuEGxmmQ5AKfZW3LLbJa8QP4K0TDIzHshU1rBbsW7Mlz2uVLBJLezCK3pGJFWrs7C_q4dzADGDbSvsqFN1nTLQ3yOCnrLI13AFbNALJssv3TOJUTB-F7WOPvp6q5VmPysw94p7y70GXgr03pNLuLRvbcrxeO8vfjA/s3264/IMG_6090.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivmE7zhrwr9YwJWO2hAK4VEgEKS9XuEGxmmQ5AKfZW3LLbJa8QP4K0TDIzHshU1rBbsW7Mlz2uVLBJLezCK3pGJFWrs7C_q4dzADGDbSvsqFN1nTLQ3yOCnrLI13AFbNALJssv3TOJUTB-F7WOPvp6q5VmPysw94p7y70GXgr03pNLuLRvbcrxeO8vfjA/w150-h200/IMG_6090.JPG" width="150" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyybCKaLVZBJDUZXUTcJu1bFoEZvGVHjJCFzAYV2w2qQBhEThuR-sOcjer5OqfqHjzT-Av9AhONq0kUBE2UpsisnB5gaAEwerYjZk11i3C05f8WoZ1SnlFc-JvFWABsClXkdlGJ0CJcGJmh338fl_rYdevmdPU99cXF4PH9Ssfe1ZszXPqZHnZ56MPG-c/s3264/IMG_6092.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyybCKaLVZBJDUZXUTcJu1bFoEZvGVHjJCFzAYV2w2qQBhEThuR-sOcjer5OqfqHjzT-Av9AhONq0kUBE2UpsisnB5gaAEwerYjZk11i3C05f8WoZ1SnlFc-JvFWABsClXkdlGJ0CJcGJmh338fl_rYdevmdPU99cXF4PH9Ssfe1ZszXPqZHnZ56MPG-c/w150-h200/IMG_6092.JPG" width="150" /></a>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeoJAKSR1LlNxvPLxNBljxwr5VqMkd8Zm-vM_zXBzTZ0Kqz_vnd7FtDZyQJQoM8Gf9xZRmT7yV9dl3GbQYOzkvDClNn36vRla0w8J54kpQr63pvdafeExmrTTUMwhT2AcNuRgqqpJaUyve9IUdKwRW9sQGw78_g_1Ew9Y29mxdXZVbEhFgK-jvSuj_xhM/s3264/IMG_6080.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeoJAKSR1LlNxvPLxNBljxwr5VqMkd8Zm-vM_zXBzTZ0Kqz_vnd7FtDZyQJQoM8Gf9xZRmT7yV9dl3GbQYOzkvDClNn36vRla0w8J54kpQr63pvdafeExmrTTUMwhT2AcNuRgqqpJaUyve9IUdKwRW9sQGw78_g_1Ew9Y29mxdXZVbEhFgK-jvSuj_xhM/w200-h150/IMG_6080.JPG" width="200" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG-oNkKqT3F44ELnQGkRMAfWxURK5eXVnjIqEsoxG77_VsxOGTAXmat8lgs-LufTtkt-kWK1EzIfVSe-OqAjZv9TtYlLD9YeKKm0GsdBsZNFsSvF2W7pvhheAknnpdwMak7I3cjCmQYOMxlZ87_wrWVUAj3g64QThSO28D0DrJeoPKLEDM4j475aHk8l8/s3264/IMG_6108.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG-oNkKqT3F44ELnQGkRMAfWxURK5eXVnjIqEsoxG77_VsxOGTAXmat8lgs-LufTtkt-kWK1EzIfVSe-OqAjZv9TtYlLD9YeKKm0GsdBsZNFsSvF2W7pvhheAknnpdwMak7I3cjCmQYOMxlZ87_wrWVUAj3g64QThSO28D0DrJeoPKLEDM4j475aHk8l8/w200-h150/IMG_6108.JPG" width="200" /></a>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzd_GVdFkHvujNTt3kMYwEX7wwu0wzefMNalR_bYHGTGO0fZ33W0gvnVlIIw_eDAElVpv9ZREPIwYVb5Khd8JgYeFc6IDIWPqNTG2qjVTqypLkPhjFtinbZasAm26mRTT1SuZb4u796RnWyYAW0su6wk8YJUHRzcz1L4BdXkbJVtXThqujiaK_JyKOA0/s3264/IMG_6082.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzd_GVdFkHvujNTt3kMYwEX7wwu0wzefMNalR_bYHGTGO0fZ33W0gvnVlIIw_eDAElVpv9ZREPIwYVb5Khd8JgYeFc6IDIWPqNTG2qjVTqypLkPhjFtinbZasAm26mRTT1SuZb4u796RnWyYAW0su6wk8YJUHRzcz1L4BdXkbJVtXThqujiaK_JyKOA0/w150-h200/IMG_6082.JPG" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvH-deSLxMHpIOUxXSbHEpx_bcDpI35qKttZWMT8oEbaQ-wXlDaTwMYdw18N9FniTiifpk7J4UrVUd8LbVzeWvHHAPPeSbVlmNdEMzdMHMTboiROIgMAFJ6FIMweHEXAbERO4IlGDA8lrN5h9HfJIBwve0MhxllZwhu_YZEkjmfpYg-AHgRDf9VxRqS28/s3264/IMG_6086.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvH-deSLxMHpIOUxXSbHEpx_bcDpI35qKttZWMT8oEbaQ-wXlDaTwMYdw18N9FniTiifpk7J4UrVUd8LbVzeWvHHAPPeSbVlmNdEMzdMHMTboiROIgMAFJ6FIMweHEXAbERO4IlGDA8lrN5h9HfJIBwve0MhxllZwhu_YZEkjmfpYg-AHgRDf9VxRqS28/w150-h200/IMG_6086.JPG" /></a>
</div>
<p>
The <i>last </i>figure I've worked on - so far - is a <i>much </i>older one:
<i>Generations/Reveal the Shield</i> Jazz... <i>for which I've still not done a write-up</i>. Now I have to decide whether to use the old photos - <i>taken over
twelve years ago!</i> - or the new ones, featuring his upgraded look... But
here's a quick example of how he looks now, in the meantime:
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnWzcMZw2B1y3PCWTOEYrQ36A_GInKZmg29pwKz2f7QiYcDQfQi5uDJ4xVRL5bdHXXXFS3OPH-YTvgVc_uReJOU6RywEcKhiDiuDieVYnmLZ7BYYAr9odUO3Vy1UpwOVPgkjK4YBUz-7ft8wHRDef0wV79cejzuJrO6yO5n10GsEOu1w7x9ktC2uedZg/s3264/IMG_6072.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnWzcMZw2B1y3PCWTOEYrQ36A_GInKZmg29pwKz2f7QiYcDQfQi5uDJ4xVRL5bdHXXXFS3OPH-YTvgVc_uReJOU6RywEcKhiDiuDieVYnmLZ7BYYAr9odUO3Vy1UpwOVPgkjK4YBUz-7ft8wHRDef0wV79cejzuJrO6yO5n10GsEOu1w7x9ktC2uedZg/w300-h400/IMG_6072.JPG" width="300" /></a>
</div>
<p>
So, <i>long story short</i>, I'm glad I got myself a Molotow chrome pen... I got
one with a 2mm nib, and I can see myself getting <i>at least one</i> of the smaller
sizes in future, for more detailed work. They seem to be easy to work with
and, <i>allowing sufficient drying/curing time</i>, the chrome is not as prone to
acquiring fingerprints as I'd been led to believe. Can't speak for how
<i>hard-wearing</i> it is yet - time will tell.
</p><p>As to which figures I'm going to look at chroming <i>next</i>... I'm honestly not sure yet. At the very least, I can see myself adding some shine to unpainted hubcaps on many, <i>many </i>toys. Even some of my already-painted customs might benefit by having a touch of chrome added sparingly.</p><p>Which reminds me... <i>One of these days, I really need to post about my custom figures</i>...</p>
</div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-67942277314243246242023-09-21T10:00:00.076+01:002023-09-21T12:33:43.012+01:00Fifteenth Anniversary<p>
This post is, to be perfectly honest, <i>a bit of a rush-job</i>. I'm writing
it just three days before the date, and <i>I just want it out of the way</i>.
</p>
<p>
I've not bought anything new for most of this year, <i>largely </i>because of
a lack of funds... But I honestly think that if money had been no object, I
<i>still</i> wouldn't have bought much. <i>Legacy</i> continues to limp on, presenting <i>horrifically bastardised</i> versions of fan-favourite
characters, <i>Studio Series</i> continues to degenerate in terms of
engineering/build quality <i>and </i>fidelity to the movies.
</p>
<p>
The cinematic release of <i>Rise of the Beasts</i> - at least one year later
than originally planned due to reshoots and the rumoured editing issues -
<i>should </i>have been a ray of hope, but the movie pretty much ignored
<i>all </i>the lessons that <i>should </i>have been learned from the
<i>Bumblebee </i>solo movie and spiralled back into Bayverse Lite:
<i>marginally </i>better character development (in that... it was
<i>there</i>... I guess?), but the same tired
<i>Quest for the Next World-Ending McGuffin</i> formula. I've been meaning to give it
a proper write-up since I saw it back in June, but get fed up just
<i>thinking </i>about it, and the assertion by the Director that
<i>"the Studio don't care about continuity"</i> is an insult to the fandom.
</p>
<p>TransFormers deserves <i>better </i>than Paramount. </p>
<p>
Frankly, <i>these days</i>, TransFormers deserves better than <i>Hasbro</i>... <i>but that's a
whole different rant</i>.
</p>
<p>
The <i>RotB</i> toys have been mediocre, with several
<i>Studio Series</i> toys revealed as minor retoolings of the mainline
figures, inaccurate and lacking paint, while the mainline figures fail to
adequately reflect the movie CGI, but often present a better in-hand
<i>toy</i> experience.
</p>
<p>
So, here we have an anniversary post where there's precious little good to
talk about.
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p></p>
<p>I'll start, as has been the tradition, with the Dishonourable Mentions:</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUx-2iXVOc1AvSLEyhNeS6hMeqNDwSnhCsARFh3UoNWzq6sdIc9mPwgT8zpM_cU2NF8rnkTB-gZy3NNWgEL2ELoWY3zpoDwQ6Q8l6XcD1WRWbatSqlNqWMhR2_VeemxtNoVFIDNHtoDFhqk43EunksqX0gM6-U68HtNxPVryewTwyzNXHOWiNyiJo7ack/s3264/IMG_5808.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUx-2iXVOc1AvSLEyhNeS6hMeqNDwSnhCsARFh3UoNWzq6sdIc9mPwgT8zpM_cU2NF8rnkTB-gZy3NNWgEL2ELoWY3zpoDwQ6Q8l6XcD1WRWbatSqlNqWMhR2_VeemxtNoVFIDNHtoDFhqk43EunksqX0gM6-U68HtNxPVryewTwyzNXHOWiNyiJo7ack/w480-h640/IMG_5808.JPG" width="480" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">War For Cybertron: Kingdom/Golden Disk Collection Mutant
Tigatron<br /></span></b>Don't get me wrong - <i>Kingdom </i>Tigatron is a great mold, and deserved
its top-billing on last year's list...<br />But this is an
unimaginative and underachieving repaint. The fact that it uses the
original toy's 'mutant'<br />head makes it a curiosity rather than a
must-have, not least because his existence is not <br />acknowledged
in the <i>War for Cybertron</i> Netflix show. Were it not for a 50%
discount,<br />I just wouldn't have bought it.</span>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj66QbNxD3LIx34VpZNchCAG0FJ62BTa6w6lVkCRMwzcKPs5Y3WZB-UpntEbytjX3dmMl9IbP7wRz5_I8SuQ9jvTMiKDM6vVaEgwZh3DYY1TH4qOKK85_6WKLWXFUF6f63DmbfmLu82YhclbhEYPq1tddlhAWDJlu8AbbuUdaL1VFG-fXJmTBSQ9MbyN1I/s3264/IMG_5671.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj66QbNxD3LIx34VpZNchCAG0FJ62BTa6w6lVkCRMwzcKPs5Y3WZB-UpntEbytjX3dmMl9IbP7wRz5_I8SuQ9jvTMiKDM6vVaEgwZh3DYY1TH4qOKK85_6WKLWXFUF6f63DmbfmLu82YhclbhEYPq1tddlhAWDJlu8AbbuUdaL1VFG-fXJmTBSQ9MbyN1I/w480-h640/IMG_5671.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="480" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #01ffff;">War for Cybertron Trilogy Covert Agent Ravage/Decepticons Forever
Ravage<br /></span></b>A figure I might have looked forward to more had it been a reworking of
Tigatron rather than<br />Cheetor, this ended up in my collection
largely because of a 50% discount, and the fact that the <br />original
<i>Beast Wars Metals</i> toy is so expensive, despite not being great.
While it's very well articulated,<br />transformation is
oversimplified, and his beast mode - while largely redundant - is poorly
realised. <br />The inclusion of <i>G1</i> Ravage makes it at least
<i>somewhat </i>more worthwhile, but it's another pretty lame<br />'special
edition'.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd_MhrSmcjcb9oAb7Gdjfqg7F23HHddALX5nqatEAK2zwUD87qFT6R61YJHLtAW8hiy81IOVs2VT-nP6ETfUtWajEX2sVsWQgCF8baRtMKEsbKrgPF8Kv0DpLmH2xI7HC2lSjlx3rt0qXyxToGrqr5H78Cn6XBSUVcGba8yyLCovlnSnfpD6475dsJ7jY/s3264/IMG_5994.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd_MhrSmcjcb9oAb7Gdjfqg7F23HHddALX5nqatEAK2zwUD87qFT6R61YJHLtAW8hiy81IOVs2VT-nP6ETfUtWajEX2sVsWQgCF8baRtMKEsbKrgPF8Kv0DpLmH2xI7HC2lSjlx3rt0qXyxToGrqr5H78Cn6XBSUVcGba8yyLCovlnSnfpD6475dsJ7jY/w640-h480/IMG_5994.JPG" width="640" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Buzzworthy Bumblebee: Creatures Collide 4-pack<br /></span></b>Another offering I only picked up because of a massive discount. I'm
pretty much refusing to buy any more Bumblebee figures,<br />but Hasbro
cleverly included Goldbug in this set. As a fan of the <i>G1 </i>Throttlebot,
my interest was piqued... However, the rest of the set <br />was of very
limited interest. The <i>Generations </i>Waspinator mold is vastly
superior to the <i>Kingdom </i>version used for Skywasp,<br />Ransack should have been more than just a Kickback repaint, and not even a repaint
paying homage to the original <i>Beast Wars</i><br />toy would normally have
been enough to get me interested in <i>Kingdom </i>Scorponok. I pity anyone who paid the RRP
for this set, <br />because it was disappointing at half price.<br />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div><br /></div><div>
While I managed to scrape together a Top 9 last year, we'll have to make do
with a <i>Top 5</i> this time round, and this post basically now covers <i>everything
</i> I've bought since October of last year. Three of the figures are Third Party,
and the two official Hasbro figures have fairly significant caveats...</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOFdPNGu489tWDQYMubkwoLwQu7MBv2xi8hTrg9yoqTLnfhVAcMsM3pIFg89s5yBk_IFERvLPnVDiribCyjnf9-v0zReEMrPRHalPOBAlL55s3UokrAQY0m9n8_-kyLD1C21W48cLMOOdGMPjBZSgC_8YWuUvK0rhY1DO3aoK1QFslvMwqNb_NKrpjmJY/s3264/IMG_5517.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOFdPNGu489tWDQYMubkwoLwQu7MBv2xi8hTrg9yoqTLnfhVAcMsM3pIFg89s5yBk_IFERvLPnVDiribCyjnf9-v0zReEMrPRHalPOBAlL55s3UokrAQY0m9n8_-kyLD1C21W48cLMOOdGMPjBZSgC_8YWuUvK0rhY1DO3aoK1QFslvMwqNb_NKrpjmJY/w480-h640/IMG_5517.JPG" width="480" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #01ffff;">
5. APC Toys Night Countess
<br /></span></b>Noone would ever suggest that the Deluxe class version of Airachnid was
a satisfactory interpretation<br />of the character from <i>TransFormers
Prime</i>, but I doubt anyone would have expected them to do better.<br />When
APC Toys started releasing knockoffs of old <i>TFPrime </i>toys, they seemed to
focus on the superior<br /><i>First Edition</i> toys to start with... but, even
then, I don't think anyone would have expected anything<br />special
when they got round to Airachnid (<i>assuming they were bothered</i>). However,
when it transpired<br />that they'd picked up the amazing garage kit
version of the character produced some years go, <br />and made a full
production version, I was intent on getting one. It's not perfect by any
means - <br />vehicle mode looks pretty terrible and neither her robot
mode nor her 'predator mode' peg together<br />securely - but it's still a
<i>vast </i>improvement on the official toy.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPZe5TPKMwriSxwfgGtUx9x1fa16P7GsWDeNNmdBITl8LzvS8BYWXqJyHFjWsS6-QEMfQmTgvCwthb5zrf39H15z9pHGJ_X_jr3-E-5vzPkesAnfjq0-1LG63uNWqGGHfK4Sm91TK0nG07vOZHMMPnr3Rv7nGb9AkRG0Worrk7cigutAhPqN40vK30_TQ/s3264/IMG_5719a.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPZe5TPKMwriSxwfgGtUx9x1fa16P7GsWDeNNmdBITl8LzvS8BYWXqJyHFjWsS6-QEMfQmTgvCwthb5zrf39H15z9pHGJ_X_jr3-E-5vzPkesAnfjq0-1LG63uNWqGGHfK4Sm91TK0nG07vOZHMMPnr3Rv7nGb9AkRG0Worrk7cigutAhPqN40vK30_TQ/w480-h640/IMG_5719a.JPG" width="480" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #01ffff;">4. Studio Series #91 The Fallen<br /></span></b>The idea that this is basically just a <i>redo </i>of the 2009 toy initially
put me off this toy, but when I started<br />to see reviews, I realised
that there were (<i>just</i>) enough improvements to make it worth a look. It's
<i>still</i><br />not perfect - the paint job is <i>severely lacking</i> - but the
improvements to the sculpt and its overall fidelity<br />to the movie,
coupled with the <i>gorgeous </i>translucent plastic used for most of the
figure made it worth<br />aquiring, even though its 'vehicle' mode is
still <i>utter nonsense</i>.
</td>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhG_4kttTZszfOnC6WbBEkuPItXqXBoBFQKD7yON_SgDYAdtRwTQzYMFkKtb6HyHQ8civze4EiA0Lwo_HLwzl7JNhMARPKlhKxY59xmAcfkeT-nStHmxwelJpBS10aUMTNDnPjwBHlu728F6CbHzeRTAxPXoK2bgBgy2XxAb6KS4FTkMo7a8GAuxXWRfY/s3264/IMG_5775.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhG_4kttTZszfOnC6WbBEkuPItXqXBoBFQKD7yON_SgDYAdtRwTQzYMFkKtb6HyHQ8civze4EiA0Lwo_HLwzl7JNhMARPKlhKxY59xmAcfkeT-nStHmxwelJpBS10aUMTNDnPjwBHlu728F6CbHzeRTAxPXoK2bgBgy2XxAb6KS4FTkMo7a8GAuxXWRfY/w480-h640/IMG_5775.JPG" width="480" /></a>
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<b><span style="color: #01ffff;">3. Studio Series #93 Hot Rod<br /></span></b>Much maligned though the <i>character </i>from <i>The Last Knight</i> is, his <i>design
</i> was pretty solid. I'd already<br />bought DX9's La Hire before this toy
was even <i>announced</i>, but it was impressive enough to warrant<br />acquiring
for my <i>official </i>movie toy shelves. The engineering is perhaps a little
over-ambitious for<br />the Deluxe class size, and some parts will
occasionally pop off during transformation, but it's proof<br />that the
designers and engineers at Hasbro/Takara Tomy <i>can </i>perform miracles...
<i>when they're allowed</i>.
</td>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9fR0YwdnCEIvuyjXm4HzJvzEj7bQqV5RpnyUCRIxz15TS6fnBbIziezZbEQ_CLGyF2MK8Tj0tW1yGrrvb0_uK5tms4EIv1RK-vnt_dvxvFInRoEx3wzhLGPZ0UUFSmIQ7T31Q4CBYuh3TtoZ6p-BE4sKaF-Ev44Y0IMFUIUMqo7k6QAI_-cSFFRKIOXY/s3264/IMG_5617.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9fR0YwdnCEIvuyjXm4HzJvzEj7bQqV5RpnyUCRIxz15TS6fnBbIziezZbEQ_CLGyF2MK8Tj0tW1yGrrvb0_uK5tms4EIv1RK-vnt_dvxvFInRoEx3wzhLGPZ0UUFSmIQ7T31Q4CBYuh3TtoZ6p-BE4sKaF-Ev44Y0IMFUIUMqo7k6QAI_-cSFFRKIOXY/w480-h640/IMG_5617.JPG" width="480" /></a>
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<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #01ffff;">2. Ocular Max/Mastermind Creations Infinite Finity IF-01A Eris:
Kultur Subjugation Alternative<br /></span></b>MMC decided to make the original version of this figure an event exclusive and, while I missed out on<br /><i>that </i>version, I was able to order this repaint when it was released some months later. It's a clever idea:<br />A Femme-Bot who can mimic the <i>appearance </i>and <i>abilities</i> of other characters, giving them free rein to<br />create a series of Femme-Bots who resemble popular characters from the TransFormers franchise.<br />As the name suggests, Eris: Kultur Subjugation Alternative is based on MMC's version of the IDW<br />character Tarn. This was soon followed by a reworking as a Femme-Bot take on <i>Armada </i>Megatron<br />which, while pretty cool, seems to suggest that <i>future </i>versions of Eris might <i>also </i>reuse the same mold.</td>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjp_O5Igc_yDeeAQ4B9c-JlWjujrSV0X63uvP8gHxf7hdXRQLP6Mbq4iCj5vKgiN8Ts21FPfIWYAxZRheNz-o0uUsE5UW-HADtVdZWBv-1Tz29TNunK6ZgEoHWaaUmkJl33n92RAv9tyJjD88gB3c5a9inCAhOqXUvK0ifcgXB2Oq-o1p5e1mod9Yv4NE/s3264/IMG_5440.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjp_O5Igc_yDeeAQ4B9c-JlWjujrSV0X63uvP8gHxf7hdXRQLP6Mbq4iCj5vKgiN8Ts21FPfIWYAxZRheNz-o0uUsE5UW-HADtVdZWBv-1Tz29TNunK6ZgEoHWaaUmkJl33n92RAv9tyJjD88gB3c5a9inCAhOqXUvK0ifcgXB2Oq-o1p5e1mod9Yv4NE/w480-h640/IMG_5440.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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<b><span style="color: #01ffff;">1. MetaGate G-01 Haiku<br /></span></b>While MetaGate seem to be a new Third Party company, their offerings thusfar bespeak a level of<br />expertise (and possibly experience) that demands attention. Their first offering wasn't just a high-quality<br />interpretation of Drift from <i>Age of Extinction</i>, with an excellent vehicle mode - close enough to the<br />Bugatti Veyron - and a stellar robot mode, they even managed to squeeze in his helicopter mode...<br />Kind of. It looks pretty bad, doesn't hold together very well, and I doubt anyone will ever choose to<br />display Haiku in that form, but it showed what MetaGate were capable of and cemented them as<br />"one to watch" in the Third Party <i>Masterpiece</i>-analogue transforming robot field.</td>
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<br />
<div>
Sadly, there's only <i>one </i>Honourable mention this time round, and it's not even
a <i>new</i> toy, technically...
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_DqdbSIjI_ItP1uQa5SXo9mwX89l61x5ejjM0UwIe8YapqHGM-RhJDkrVQLdCyOKrJTVPBcOavDfYXGtbgRHgVc7tBb6fC1A1MeE0I8V5lRXJ7QlyYPlNurM9Gddt14weXxOY6WJGQ4AvZolMypKE55zaNbpbJz4YNTCfdTyCn1lj7fLVgcPtUFbQvvc/s3264/IMG_5600.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_DqdbSIjI_ItP1uQa5SXo9mwX89l61x5ejjM0UwIe8YapqHGM-RhJDkrVQLdCyOKrJTVPBcOavDfYXGtbgRHgVc7tBb6fC1A1MeE0I8V5lRXJ7QlyYPlNurM9Gddt14weXxOY6WJGQ4AvZolMypKE55zaNbpbJz4YNTCfdTyCn1lj7fLVgcPtUFbQvvc/w480-h640/IMG_5600.JPG" width="480" /></a>
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<b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Beast Wars (Reissue) Scorponok<br /></span></b>I missed out on the original toy and, to be honest, it wasn't really
on my radar when I started buying<br />Beast Wars toys retroactively,
via the secondary market. Hasbro's official reissue - using
show-accurate<br />colours, loosely speaking - was typically
overpriced, so I waited till it got discounted to buy.<br />Even
today, it's a fun toy - albeit with some QC issues in its
spring-loaded gimmicks - and honestly<br />puts the <i>Kingdom </i>toy to
shame.
</td>
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<br />
<div><i>So</i>... Really <i>not </i>a great showing for Hasbro, all told. Precious little has been revealed since last year that I have any interest in acquiring. Recent <i>Legacy </i>reveals look awful in and of themselves, let alone when compared to the toys that supposedly inspired them. <i>Animated </i>Universe Bumblebee is an absolute <i>travesty </i>and, while the <i>engineering </i>on Optimus Prime looks at least <i>competent</i>, the plastic colours are flat and dull, making it look cheap. The newer <i>Armada </i>Universe entries <i>might </i>have been worth acquiring if I didn't already have the original <i>Armada </i>toys, with their superior play features.</div><div><br /></div><div>The <i>Rise of the Beasts</i> toys - both the mainline set and the <i>Studio Series</i> versions - are poor imitations of what was seen in the movie, and it really feels as though Hasbro should have concentrated more on filling out the Bayverse aspect of the line, giving themselves more time to perfect the <i>Rise of the Beasts</i> toys in future. <i>Studio Series '86</i> continues to produce toys that are of zero interest, either because they're ridiculous (battle-damaged/dead versions of Ironhide and Prowl?) or because they're not sufficiently better than existing toys (Ultra Magnus, versus the <i>Combiner Wars/<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/transformers-legends-takara-tomy-30th.html" target="_blank">TF Legends</a></i> version), and all of them suffer from minimal paintwork precisely because they're emulating the <i>crushingly dull</i> animation models.</div><div><br /></div><div>The introduction of <i>Gamers' Edition</i> to <i>Studio Series</i> sounded like a positive move when it was first announced (last year), but the first handful of toys have been badly compromised, leaving them no better than the <i>Generations </i>versions released thirteen years ago <i>at best</i>, and substantially <i>worse </i>in some cases. Quality control, generally, <i>continues </i>to deteriorate, with discolouration of the plastics, warped parts, missing parts and breakages becoming increasingly common, <i>straight out of the box</i>. TransFormers toys just aren't worth the money any more - as evidenced by the fact that several of the toys listed above were bought - <i>still somewhat reluctantly</i> - at a significant discount on their RRP.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>The only positives aren't even <i>relevant</i> to me: some older toys, such as <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2018/06/studio-series-grimlock.html" target="_blank"><i>Studio Series</i> #07 Grimlock</a>, have been re-released due to ongoing demand... <i>But one has to wonder whether distribution will be any better this time around</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>This time last year, I insisted that my collecting had only <i>slowed</i>... but now, <i>bar a few upcoming Third Party figures</i>, I'm reasonably convinced that it has finally come to an end, at least until Hasbro's output improves. I really don't see that <i>happening</i>, though.</div><div><br /></div><div>The market has changed dramatically since the 1980s. It has been proven that kids these days just aren't as interested in <i>physical </i>toys, due to the 'cellphone parenting' techniques that have become increasingly common in the 21st Century, and the growth of 'social media' platforms like TikTok, which give everyone their opportunity for fifteen minutes of fame - <i>or, in the case of many TikTok 'celebrities' and their asinine 'challenges', infamy</i>. Hasbro have been monetising their portfolio so desperately and avariciously that their share price was marked down. Their handling of both <i>Magic: The Gathering</i> and <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> has earned them page upon page of bad press <i>and the ire of their respective fan communities</i>. Their lackadaisical attitude to the films based upon their IPs has reduced their audience dramatically since the early days of the TransFormers movie franchise. <i>GI Joe</i> has consistently failed to perform, and yet the most recent movie implies a Marvel/DC multiverse-style crossover in the most <i>underachieving </i>and <i>uninspiring </i>way possible.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nevertheless, much of the fandom will <i>insist </i>that <i>Rise of the Beasts</i> was the best movie so far, and that <i>Legacy </i>is producing some of the best toys ever seen. I'm glad they're finding <i>something</i> to enjoy, but I'd honestly prefer <i>no </i>TransFormers to <i>shit </i>TransFormers... <i>and, right now, as far as I'm concerned, all we're getting is shit TransFormers</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's the root cause of my loss of <i>impetus </i>for updating this blog. I have another 14 posts at the draft stage, and well over 100 toys yet to be covered... but, until I rediscover my <i>enthusiasm </i>for transforming robot toys, updates will continue to be sparse.</div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-35934380333467822842023-04-03T10:12:00.002+01:002023-04-03T10:12:50.002+01:00Studio Series #93 Hot Rod<div style="text-align: left;">
I <i>still </i>haven't watched The Last Knight (<i>and still don't intend to</i>), but I have watched enough <i>clips </i>to know <i>two </i>things: that
Hasbro's
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-last-knightautobots-unite-hot-rod.html" target="_blank">first attempt at a Hot Rod figure</a> back in 2017 was hopelessly inaccurate, and that the writers couldn't
decide whether he was supposed to <i>be </i>French, or just somehow 'stuck'
with the <i>accent</i>, considering he frequently uses French idioms in his
dialogue (<i>consistently addressing Vivian Wembly as "mademoiselle", introducing
himself with "Je m'apelle Hot Rod", etc.</i>).
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
His <i>design </i>was pretty good, though, carrying just enough of the
<i>Diaclone </i>DNA exhibited by the likes of Bumblebee and Jazz in the
<i>first </i>film -
<i>even more surprising considering how quickly Bay's movies distanced
themselves from that aesthetic</i>
- while fitting in with the <i>sleeker</i>, increasingly humanoid styling of
the later films.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Given that I bought DX9's excellent
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2019/08/dx9-kaleidoscope-03-la-hire.html" target="_blank">La Hire</a>
<i>more than three years ago</i>, one could be forgiven for wondering why I'd
<i>bother </i>with Hasbro's <i>Studio Series</i> update of their figure from
<i>The Last Knight</i>'s toyline... And, <i>granted</i>, it does seem strange
to spend £26 on a Deluxe class figure that I know isn't going to hold a candle
to <i>a larger, more intricate, elaborate and accurate</i> Third Party
<i>Masterpiece</i>-analogue, that I already own, and for which I paid just £77. <i>SS </i>Hot Rod may
be just one third the <i>price</i>, but can a Deluxe class <i>toy</i>, as produced by Hasbro in the 2020s, possibly be even one third
<i>as good</i> as La Hire?
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span><a name='more'></a></span><b><u>Vehicle Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Straight away, what we have here is an <i>excellent </i>representation of
Lamborghini's gorgeous Centenario. While its panel breaks are more
<i>numerous </i>that those of the <i>TLK </i>figure, they're not so
<i>prominent </i>that they hurt the <i>overall </i>appearance of the car. Not
to say they <i>blend in</i> particularly well, just that they're surprisingly
<i>well-fitted</i> for the most part. The bonnet and back end probably have
the highest number of <i>seams-per-centimetre</i> but, while they're not
really in line with the real-life vehicle's seams, they're integrated in a way
that makes them <i>somewhat </i>less obtrusive than they might otherwise be.
Conversely, the seams down the sides might not be as <i>numerous</i>, but they
stick out more because most of them are at right angles to each other, where
the lines of the <i>car </i>are a bit more subtle. Perhaps the
<i>craziest </i>part is the very <i>middle </i>of the rear of the car, where
the area below the spoiler is split <i>ten times</i> in the space of an
inch/2.5cm. Due to this <i>and typical plastic tolerance issues</i>, the two
exhaust panels have a nasty habit of popping off, and the details surrounding
the spoiler mounts don't <i>quite </i>line up with those of the adjacent
chunks of car.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
He retains his weird <i>brownish-grey</i> colouration of the <i>TLK </i>toy,
but this one, bafflingly, is a lighter shade, which lacks the metallic sparkle
of the original. He also has a noticeably less <i>glossy </i>finish to the
plastic which, <i>to my mind</i>, makes him rather <i>duller </i>than a
Lamborghini should be expected to look. He <i>also </i>doesn't compare well
with his predecessor in terms of <i>paintwork</i>. Where that had the raised
'fin' details on the sides of the car fully painted orange, this (almost)
fully paints the bumper, but then has only a bit of linework
<i>that doesn't even cover the full length of these details, let along their
full surface area</i>. On the upside, the orange linework on the side windows is <i>complete </i>this
time, and the rear indicator lights <i>are </i>painted, but with such a <i>dark </i>red,
they may as well <i>not </i>have bothered again. The rear windows are <i>painted </i>black
rather than being more translucent plastic, and the headlights feature a coating of
<i>glossy </i>black supplemented with a silver outline on two edges. Other than that,
the only <i>other </i>touches of paint appear to be some <i>brownish-grey</i> where the
translucent plastic of the windscreen and side windows become part of the roof
and doors, respectively, and some gold to highlight the Lamborghini badge at the front
of the bonnet. This latter is rather more <i>basic </i>than the tiny logo that was
stamped onto the sculpted bump on the <i>TLK </i>version of the toy. What's strange is
that it <i>looks </i>as though two different shades of brown paint were used, as the painted section of roof seems <i>darker </i>than the plastic, while the doors
seem slightly <i>lighter</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Of course, the <i>other </i>drawback with the translucent plastic used here is that
it's only very <i>lightly </i>tinted with an <i>ugly, smoky brown</i> colour, so it reveals
the inner workings of the toy all too clearly. In this case, it's the <i>back </i>of
the robot's torso, his shoulder joints and the <i>mountings </i>for the
transformation hinges for his door-wings. Toys like this are pretty much
<i>perfect evidence</i> in favour of using <i>opaque </i>plastic for windows, both for
structural <i>and </i>aesthetic reasons.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Rather depressingly, the wheels are molded in much the same brown plastic as
the <i>rest </i>of the car, <i>and the hubcaps are unpainted</i>, so the <i>minimal </i>orange
striping is pretty much the main highlight in this form. <i>That's a lot of
weight for such a small amount of paint to carry</i>... and, <i>personally</i>, I don't
think it works.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Hot Rod's gun -<i> the one that can "stop ze time"</i> - can peg into the slot carved
into the rear of the car, <i>just ahead of the spoiler on each side</i>, inside which
is the mushroom peg from one of his transformation joints. It's a
<i>relatively </i>small slot, <i>and one of the few outright blemishes on vehicle mode</i>,
but I'm not sure having the gun attached offers any real <i>improvement</i>. It
doesn't even <i>hold </i>very securely, since the tab on the gun is pressing up
against the curved surface of the mushroom peg, which can cause it to tilt
from side to side <i>and thus work its way out of the slot entirely</i>.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Other than this, I've noticed a few mold defects on mine: the rear section of
the <i>front</i> wheel arch on either side - <i>each of which features another sculpted
shield representing the Lamborghini logo</i> - looks somewhat <i>scuffed </i>and
<i>distorted</i>... Which then got me looking more closely at <i>all </i>of the ostensibly
smooth plastic surfaces on this toy, and quickly led to the discovery that
actually <i>most of it looks subtly warped</i>. It's only <i>noticeable </i>when light hits
in in a particular way, but it seems to me that it's <i>another </i>sign of the
reduced plastic quality, or just less <i>precise </i>and <i>exacting </i>manufacturing standards. Still, considering this is a <i>Hasbro </i>toy, it's an <i>excellent </i>representation of the Lamborghini Centenario... But one third as good as La Hire's interpretation? <i>Not really</i>.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Robot Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Well, when I opined that DX9's La Hire was "<i>leagues </i>ahead of anything that might appear in the <i>Studio Series</i> line", I certainly wasn't <i>wrong</i>... but, honestly,<i> this is vastly better than anything I might have been expecting back in 2019</i>. At first glance, this Deluxe class figure is nothing short of phenomenal, and compares <i>pretty favourably</i> to La Hire. However, looking at the figure more <i>closely</i>, some of the <i>proportions </i>start to seem a little off. In particular, the head is mounted a little too far <i>forward</i>, and is sunk too <i>low </i>between the shoulders. Where the CGI has additional detail <i>across</i> the shoulders, with the car's front stacked on top, the <i>toy </i>appears to have the car parts riding <i>much </i>further up on his shoulders, <i>not least because the actual shoulder mass is comparatively smaller</i>. The other obvious <i>omission </i>is the detailing of his back which, <i>for the purpose of the toy</i>, is replaced by the mostly flat roof of the car, concealing the mostly <i>hollow </i>back of his torso. On the upside, he does have his door-wings... <i>albeit with a chunk of solid car panel folded back in on itself, clashing with the bottom of the roof section as they move</i>. Due to the way the arms transform, his vambraces are rather more <i>chunky</i> than they should have been, what little sculpted detail there is on the <i>inside </i>of the vehicle's front wheel wells doesn't <i>quite </i>match the CGI, and <i>none </i>of the outer face is painted. The rest of the arm detailing looks to be <i>very </i>accurate to the CGI, <i>except for the dearth of paintwork</i>. A little silver or gunmetal on the <i>forearm </i>and some orange framing the <i>bicep </i>would have made all the difference here.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">On the subject of sculpted detail, <i>generally</i>, there's some <i>really good</i> work on Hot Rod. I'm particularly impressed that the upper waist is formed by sculpted robot parts on the <i>insides </i>of sections of the car's bonnet, <i>even though some of the details are somewhat hollowed-out</i>. The designers and engineers at Hasbro and Takara Tomy still aren't quite <i>rivalling </i>the Third Parties, but it does at least suggest they're either <i>paying attention</i>... or just getting <i>better </i>at their work. This section is much <i>slimmer </i>than it ought to be according to the CGI, but I'm more than happy to forgive that, just because they were clearly <i>trying</i>. The <i>lower </i>part of the waist and the pelvis are both molded in a lighter, more <i>metallic-looking</i> grey plastic that has a somewhat <i>cheap </i>feel, but it holds the detail just as well as the darker plastic used for the car shell. Hot Rod even features the <i>frame </i>for an Autobot insignia more or less where his belly button would be, though no insignia has been applied... Which, <i>come to think of it</i>, has pretty much become a staple of <i>Studio Series</i> toys: we've gone from <i>low-key</i> insignia to <i>none at all</i>. The space is larger than, <i>for example</i>, the central crest on Bumblebee's forehead, which has <i>occasionally </i>been stamped with an Autobot insignia (<i>certainly as recently as <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2020/06/studio-series-57-offroad-bumblebee.html" target="_blank">SS #57 Offroad Bumblebee</a></i>), but I <i>suspect </i>the plastic used for these components is the 'unpaintable' kind. The pelvis itself is also quite detailed, <i>but loses some accuracy points for the massive slot carved into it because of the mushroom peg waist joint</i>. Even so, it looks better than his backside, <i>which is virtually non-existent, bar the hexagonal approx 3mm port for a display stand</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The legs come out surprisingly well, with the armour panelling being quite simple, but at least <i>fairly </i>accurate in terms of the sculpt. The inner thighs are <i>horrifically </i>hollow, with the mushroom pegs of the thigh rotation joint <i>completely </i>exposed, but the <i>backs </i>of the thighs and the <i>sides </i>of the calves feature <i>some </i>tech detailing to make up for it. Even the positioning of his wheels at the sides of his knees is <i>technically </i>accurate, though both the CGI <i>and </i>the Third Party version managed to make them rather more <i>low-key</i>. The lion's share of the <i>robot-specific</i> paintwork ended up on the legs, too, with orange panels on the thighs, two <i>separate </i>parts of the shins, <i>and </i>on the toes... <i>but the latter two aren't strictly accurate to the CGI</i>. Ideally, there should have been some <i>silver </i>paint on the shins, <i>but it would have been applied to details that aren't even sculpted in, possibly because it would have interfered with one of the transformation hinges</i>. The feet are rather peculiar, in that the sculpted detailing is <i>back to front</i>: the CGI has the equivalent of his <i>big toe</i> as a separate chunk, but it's the <i>little toe </i>on the toy. I'd suspect it had been <i>assembled </i>back to front, but the connecting slot and tab are actually molded onto the <i>main part</i> of the foot, <i>not </i>the vehicle shell that makes up the sole. Additionally, while it's <i>nice </i>that they added some orange paint to the foot, it's a much <i>simplified </i>application - just a single, irregular block that covers most of the front of the foot, bar the separate outer 'toe', where the CGI shows <i>two distinct bands of orange</i>, the upper one supplemented by <i>silver </i>on the recessed detailing.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Naturally, his weapon makes a lot more <i>sense </i>in robot mode than it did <i>sticking up out of the back of his vehicle mode</i>... Though it does look slightly <i>oversized</i>, unless I'm just not familiar enough with the CGI. The sculpt is fairly detailed and, <i>surprisingly</i>, there's even a bit of paintwork... <i>though it's just dots of cyan on the front of the ring of pods around the midpoint</i>. Unlike a lot of weapon accessories, this gun <i>isn't</i> hollowed out on the sides, but <i>does </i>have a shallow opening in the gun barrel, <i>and it's actually a 2-part weapon</i>: the pod ring is removable. I don't believe this is a <i>feature </i>so much as a <i>manufacturing necessity</i>, since the base gun has a large <i>notch </i>cut out along the top to allow the pod ring to clip into place. Due to the sculpting of the arm/hand, the gun has to be pegged in at a <i>slight </i>angle for it to look 'straight' in the hand. To facilitate proper alignment, there is a notch taken out on each side of the <i>bottom </i>of the pod ring, which accommodates the car panel on the outer face of <i>either </i>hand.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One of the (<i>many</i>) problems with the character of Hot Rod presented in <i>The Last Knight</i> is that the head design is <i>utterly hideous</i>. The <i>sensibilities </i>are very much along the lines of the original movie Bumblebee, <i>but with the addition of a face that looks like a squashed-down version of the entire head from the character model used in some of the IDW comics</i>. In terms of sculpted detail, this captures the look of the CGI more accurately than even the DX9 figure - <i>no surprise, given Hasbro/Takara Tomy would have had access to the movie CGI models</i> - but, <i>as usual</i>, it's let down by the paint job. The very <i>squished-looking</i> area from the tip of the nose down to the tip of the jaw features a fair amount of sculpted detail, <i>including a very defined slit of a mouth</i>, but it's mostly lost in that <i>unpainted, dark brown</i> plastic. In that it more accurately reflects the <i>quantity </i>and <i>location </i>of orange on the face, the paintwork here <i>does </i>improve upon the Third Party figure, but there's <i>still </i>no orange on the <i>sides </i>of his head, and the <i>largest </i>application of silver is to the <i>lump</i> on the centre of his forehead. Additional to that, there are <i>hairline </i>applications of silver for his 'eyebrows' and on the <i>outer </i>edges of his eye sockets, but the bands running back over the temples are absent.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
While I've frequently decried the <i>lack </i>of complexity even in
<i>Studio Series</i> toys, I'd have to concede that Hot Rod's engineering
<i>exceeds </i>both its size class <i>and </i>its build quality in its
transformation. <i>Most </i>of it works well enough,
<i>and it certainly tabs together securely in vehicle mode</i>... but
clearance issues are rife - <i>particularly </i>with getting the arms to stow
and rotating the waist. The <i>first </i>problem I encountered was with the
ankles, for which the joint embedded in the base of the <i>shin </i>was very
reluctant to move, and the images in the instructions just aren't
<i>precise </i>enough as to <i>which </i>part needs to move, and <i>when</i>.
Once I'd forced the stiff joint past a certain point, it moved smoothly, and
the soles of the feet were easy enough to line up with the sides of the shins,
<i>but the force required for that initial pop was surprising</i>. As
mentioned, one (<i>or both</i>) of the exhaust panels is likely to pop off
during transformation, and I've even had one of the <i>legs </i>pop off the
ball joint at the hip, <i>despite neither being especially loose</i>. The
culprit <i>appears </i>to be the design of the <i>back </i>of the thigh, which
can put pressure on the pelvis when rotated past a certain point,
<i>thus levering the hip joint out of its socket</i>. The door wings
<i>also </i>have a habit of getting in the way at multiple points in the
transformation - having to be swung <i>down </i>to accommodate the roof's
transformation, then <i>back up</i> to allow <i>marginally</i> more clearance
for the arms. Even worse than <i>that</i>, the roof's transformation hinge
doesn't allow enough clearance for the waist rotation, so the pelvis basically
has to <i>grind </i>past it. On the upside,
<i>while the instructions are a bit useless on specific details</i>, they do
present the ideal <i>running order</i> for the steps, making it
<i>as easy as it would ever be</i> to ensure the myriad
<i>small, interlocking panels</i> peg into place. Going back into robot mode,
<i>for me</i>, tends to highlight the <i>looseness </i>of the joints for the
sections of the <i>front </i>of the car that form Hot Rod's upper chest. The
door wings are certainly <i>no less frustrating</i>, and the slim exhaust
panels are just as likely to pop off the feet in <i>this </i>direction as
well.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>Broadly speaking</i> Hot Rod's articulation is excellent but,
<i>as always</i>, there are caveats. First and foremost, his ankles function
via <i>three </i>separate joints: the foot itself is on a ball joint that
offers 360° rotation, <i>but only minimal tilt in any direction</i>, with
<i>slightly </i>more downward tilt as a result of transformation. The ball
joint is on a hinge that, <i>itself</i>, is attached to <i>another </i>hinge
for transformation, both of which, <i>if unclipped</i>, can be used to
<i>supplement </i>the foot's up/down tilt
<i>with only a small effect on the figure's standing stability</i>. The knees
bend a <i>hair </i>over 90°, but the rear wheel frame <i>clashes </i>with the
thigh at about the 45° mark,
<i>and has to be flexed out of the way to allow the knee to bend to its
fullest extent</i>. The hips are <i>insanely </i>poseable, with a good 90° swing in
<i>any </i>direction... though it's only 90° to the sides if the
<i>inward </i>swing is included - otherwise it's only about 80°
<i>due to the sculpting on the thigh</i>. The thigh <i>itself </i>can rotate
through about 135° safely, and 180° <i>with a little finessing</i>... but
rotating it <i>outward </i>runs the risk of the back of the thigh nudging the
leg off its ball joint. His waist rotation is <i>somewhat </i>hindered for the
same reason as for transformation -
<i>the transformation hinge for the roof is right behind his backside, and
clashes with the outer edges of the pelvis</i>
- but he can turn more than 90° in each direction, so it's
<i>perfectly adequate</i> for robot mode articulation. The arms are mounted on
ball joints which, <i>themselves</i>, are mounted on hinges, so he has<i>
a very on-brand</i>
'Gallic shrug' along with full 360° rotation around the shoulder, and the arms
can raise a little <i>under</i> 90° to the sides (<i>with the shoulder at its highest point on the hinge</i>). Bicep rotation is unrestricted, the elbows manage the regulation 90°, and
he has unrestricted wrist rotation. The head is on a ball joint that allows
full 360° rotation (<i>required for transformation</i>) and a small amount to
<i>up/down</i> tilt, but <i>nothing </i>to the sides.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
By and large, I am <i>very </i>impressed with <i>SS </i>Hot Rod. The figure
has its issues,
<i>mainly in terms of specific aspects of articulation, clearance, and
tolerances in the exhaust pipe flaps</i>, but it's a vast improvement on the previous toy in <i>almost </i>every way. There's a tangible sense of the <i>enthusiasm </i>and <i>genuine passion</i> that went into creating this toy, <i>but it's let down by the quality of the materials and the miserly paint job</i>. My main gripes are the colour of the base plastic, the fact that it's really
not <i>glossy</i> enough, and the lack of paintwork... <i>All </i>of which has
been true of pretty much all <i>Studio Series</i> toys over the last year or
so. Hot Rod may be about a third the cost of La Hire but, as good as it is <i>for a Studio Series toy</i> - and, <i>in spite of all my caveats</i>, it really <i>is </i>excellent - I'm <i>still </i>not convinced that it represents anywhere near good enough <i>value-for-money</i> in a world where La Hire exists (<i>and already has a KO</i>).</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Now... can anyone tell me,<i> given this guy's vehicle mode</i>, why they
didn't just hold off on using the name Sideswipe back in <i>RotF/DotM</i> so
they could use it for
<i>an Autobot who transforms into an actual Lamborghini</i>, or perhaps make
this new character in <i>The Last Knight</i> into Sunstreaker? It's a strong
<i>design</i>, but the name 'Hot Rod' was absolutely <i>wasted </i>on him, and
his characterisation (<i>based on the clips I've seen</i>) was basically
<i>pantomime </i>Frenchman.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I am <i>somewhat </i>curious to know if Hasbro have any plans to license the
Citroën DS21 for Hot Rod's <i>initial </i>appearance in the movie... Given
that he's never <i>seen </i>in a robot mode that uses those car parts, they'd
have free reign to <i>reorganise </i>his transformation as necessary... but,
<i>equally</i>, there'd be no real <i>point </i>to it as he appears only <i>briefly </i>in that form, and they've already done
the WWII version, <i>albeit as a repaint of the crummy Bumblebee toy</i>.
</div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-14049355500165550372023-03-25T17:15:00.003+00:002023-03-25T17:20:21.391+00:00Rise of the Beasts: Trailers, Fan Chatter & Toy Musings<p>I've already made a couple of <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2021/12/2021-retrospective.html" target="_blank">passing</a> <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2022/12/2022-retrospective.html" target="_blank">references</a> to my concerns about the upcoming live action movie, <i>TransFormers: Rise of the Beasts</i>, not least due to its long production delays and reshoots, as well as my <i>ambivalence </i>toward the toys thusfar revealed. As we get closer to the movie's intended release date in June, the hype is naturally building. There have been <i>more </i>toy reveals - including confirmation that the two <i>very different</i> styles of toys that have emerged are due to the expected, individual <i>Studio Series</i> releases <i>and </i>a pair of three-packs that will appear in a separate, dedicated <i>Rise of the Beasts</i> toyline - along with the expected early reviews from the usual suspects on YouTube.</p><p>The teaser trailer appeared a few months ago, with the message that <i>"For millions of years, our world has transformed... but something else has awakened"</i> and <i>"Power is primal"</i> - both equal parts ominous and <i>utter nonsense</i> - along with piss-poor CGI that fans have been picking apart and rushing to defend, <i>in almost equal measure</i>, ever since. It was followed more recently by a Superbowl teaser that added little of any substance, <i>and which seemed to be pushing the Porsche brand as much as the movie</i>, but the overall impression I've been getting - <i>for quite some time</i> - is that <i>Rise of the Beasts</i> is not Knightverse part 2, <i>but Bayverse version 2</i>.</p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>Probably the most contentious character, <i>so far</i>, has been Wheeljack... but only because he's so <i>different </i>from the version depicted in the Bumblebee solo movie almost five years ago. We've gone from what seemed to be the <i>ideal </i>representation of <i>G1</i>-adjacent characters to... <i>some kind of robo-nerd wearing dungarees and massive glasses</i>, and it just <i>reeks </i>of Michael Bay's adolescent sense of 'humor'. <i>Countless </i>online discussions opined that these glasses <i>might </i>fold outward to become his traditional glowing 'ears', <i>with precious little evidence to support the idea</i>. More recently, now that Takara Tomy have released higher-resolution images of the CGI characters, I even saw someone comment on how <i>great </i>it was that this new version of Wheeljack has <i>tiny antennae</i> on the sides of his head, <i>making the enormous leap of logic that these were deliberate references to his 'ears', and that they might glow when he speaks</i>... I can't get my head around how some people are <i>so keen</i> to delude themselves based on the most <i>insignificant </i>of cues.<p></p><p>Takara Tomy revealed a whole series of characters, some of whom we'd barely seen, <i>if at all</i>. From my point of view, it's not looking great. Optimus Primal's robot mode is largely <i>monochrome </i>and has one of the <i>blandest </i>head designs of the lot, while Transit is <i>clearly </i>derived from Lego's <i>Bionicle </i>toyline. Cheetor, Airazor and Rhinox aren't even shown in robot mode (<i>there was rumour the Rhinox doesn't transform in the movie</i>), Mirage appears to be sporting a battlemask that hasn't been shown in the trailers, Nightbird looks like something out of <i>one of the more unusual off-brand transforming robots</i> to come out of China (<i>albeit, if I were feeling generous, hints of Shatter from the Bumblebee solo movie</i>), and Stratosphere looks like a <i>more humanoid</i> version of old man Jetfire from <i>Revenge of the Fallen</i>, complete with leather flying helmet and bushy RAF-style moustache - very much reminiscent of the aesthetic of some of the background 'bots in <i>The Last Knight</i>.</p><p>I guess it's part and parcel of how the Internet works that, <i>given an outlet</i>, all manner of 'fan theories' will start to circulate so, when it became apparent that we hadn't seen anything <i>new </i>on the Wheeljack toy so far revealed, let alone any news of the <i>Studio Series</i> version, people starting theorising that we had another <i>Sonic The Hedgehog</i> movie on our hands, and Wheeljack's CGI was being frantically redone, as a result of the fan outcry, to bring his head more in line with the <i>G1 </i>original, <i>or the Knightverse version at least</i>. Of course, this has turned out <i>not</i> to be the case, but it shows how <i>quickly </i>and <i>easily </i>some members of the fandom can start <i>clutching at straws</i>. This is <i>further </i>evidenced by the number of <i>tiresome </i>'fan theories' that are <i>optimistically </i>trying to make sense of what little we know so far, <i>doubtless setting their proponents up for even greater disappointment when the movie finally hits the screens</i>. There's <i>one </i>that might actually have <i>some </i>narrative merit, in the it has been noticed that Scourge's head, <i>behind his mask</i>, appears to share assets with Bayverse Optimus Prime... and while that might be a cool twist, <i>especially given Prime's brief stint as Nemesis Prime in The Last Knight</i>, it seems a little <i>unlikely </i>unless this actually turns out to be some kind of <i>TransFormers Multiverse</i> in the offing. Surely connecting <i>Beast Wars</i> to <i>G1</i> will be convoluted enough for the portion of the audience that <i>isn't</i> already familiar with the <i>canonical </i>connection from the TV show?</p><p>I've been feeling for some time that Steven Caple Jr. has basically been <i>set up to fail</i>. The movie sounds like <i>nonsense</i>, it feels like a soft reboot of <i>The Last Knight</i> due to the hints of Unicron, and there are strong signs that the rookie director has allowed Michael Bay too much influence on the movie, both in terms of how the characters interact (<i>truly chilling rumours of a 'romantic connection' between Arcee and Wheeljack</i>), and the lowest-common-denominator choice of aesthetic for the robots - very much <i>Bayverse-on-the-cheap</i>. The <i>faces </i>of the robots may appear to be <i>somewhat less overcomplicated</i>, but those fans who delight in viewing trailers <i>frame-by-frame</i> have pointed out animation errors in the form of asset clipping - <i>some of which seems to have made its way into advertisement posters</i> - and the fact that Optimus Primal's dramatic <i>splashdown </i>entrance seems to pass through the humans in the foreground <i>without actually getting them wet</i>.</p><p>Toy-wise, we haven't seen much <i>new </i>recently, with the latest <i>Studio Series</i> reveals being the so-called <i>Gamer Edition</i> remakes of Optimus Prime, Barricade and, <i>predictably</i>, Bumblebee from the much-lauded <i>War For Cybertron</i> videogame, released back in 2010. Given the upcoming movie, now seems like a very strange time to publicise <i>another </i>new, separate branch to <i>Studio Series</i>, leading cynical old me to suspect that Hasbro are bracing for <i>Rise of the Beasts</i> to be a disaster. What we <i>have </i>seen isn't promising. Bumblebee is just another (<i>underpainted</i>) Bumblebee figure with nothing new to his engineering. Battletrap manages to look good <i>in photos</i>, despite limited paintwork, but I get the impression the <i>in-hand</i> experience isn't great, and it doesn't fit together reliably in vehicle mode. Arcee being Scout class might keep her to the correct scale with the others (<i>except it doesn't really</i>), but the simplistic engineering doesn't do the <i>toy </i>any favours. Freezer is made largely of ball joints, <i>and there are many reports of them all being loose</i>. Airazor is a <i>misguided</i> complete retool of the <i>Kingdom </i>toy that doesn't really seem to <i>fit </i>the established movie aesthetic. Cheetor is a clumsy mess that doesn't <i>deserve </i>inclusion in the <i>Studio Series</i> line, but would make a <i>halfway decent</i> contemporary remake of <i>TransMetals </i>Cheetor with the right paint job. Scourge is an ugly, gappy mess with barely any paintwork and only a <i>passing </i>resemblance to the dramatic CGI. Mirage is yet to be <i>properly </i>revealed, but looks to have <i>Studio Series</i> Jolt levels of vehicle panelling hanging off his legs and back. Very little has captured my interest, and the whole <i>Studio Series</i> ethos of fidelity to the CGI seems to be falling by the wayside, both in terms of engineering <i>and </i>paintwork. If Wheeljack's design had been any good, I <i>might </i>have been interested in that, but it doesn't, so I likely won't be interested. The new Optimus Prime figure will likely be a retool of the existing <i>Studio Series</i> figure, since the CGI appears to be based upon it, <i>particularly in terms of its crummy paintwork</i>. Optimus Primal and Rhinox have yet to be revealed, but I can't help thinking they're going to be as <i>dull </i>as Cheetor. Nightbird and Transit have yet to be revealed, but I'm not holding out much hope for either of them.</p><p>I will probably go and see the film... but I won't hurry to do so unless one of my friends buys early tickets. Even though I've had almost nothing positive to say about Rise of the Beasts thusfar, I truly hope I'm wrong about everything, and that it's a decent movie in its own right, capable of being a springboard to a new series of live action TransFormers movies. I <i>want </i>to be excited. I <i>want </i>to be enthusiastic. I <i>want </i>to be optimistic... <i>But what little has been revealed thusfar gives me no reason to expect anything but the worst</i>.</p><p>If the finished movie carries <i>any </i>of the typical Michael Bay hallmarks, Hasbro might as well forget about TransFormers movies for the time being. It's <i>already </i>been five years since the last, <i>admittedly thanks to some unavoidable delays and whatever reshoots were deemed necessary</i>. Personally, I'd be happy to wait another five years - <i>or more</i> - if it meant a halfway decent plot, a coherent script, <i>and zero involvement from Michael Bay</i>.</p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-84875992403587093372023-03-21T22:34:00.000+00:002023-03-21T22:34:00.843+00:00Real Gear Robots Zoom Out 25X<div style="text-align: left;">If you were under the impression that the <i>Real Gear Robots</i> toyline couldn't <i>possibly </i>get any worse than <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2022/11/real-gear-robots-speed-dial-800.html" target="_blank">Speed Dial 800</a>... You'd be about right. <i>However</i>, it's a very close-run thing when it comes to the last few I bought. The funniest thing about the line is that,<i> just 15 or so years later</i>, so many of the alternate modes are so <i>out of date</i>, and Zoom Out 25x is saddled with one such example, along with <i>another </i>of the line's terrible names.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Given that there are already digital (<i>photo</i>) cameras and (<i>ancient-style</i>) cellular telephones available in the line, a camcorder feels like another <i>logical </i>addition. It has as much play value in its alternate mode as in its robot mode, and it's certainly the same kind of consumer technology... But is it a <i>worthwhile </i>addition to this <i>strange</i> and <i>short-lived</i>, movie-adjacent toyline?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span><a name='more'></a></span><u><b>Device Mode:</b></u>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">It strikes me that the camcorder - <i>at least the digital kind</i> - had a remarkably short lifespan thanks to the swift and sudden advent of mobile phones as <i>jacks-of-all-trades</i>. It used to be that video cameras of all kinds were fairly <i>specialised </i>bits of kit... and the emergence of high-def made them (<i>briefly</i>) all the more specialised. Now, <i>everyone has a camcorder in their pocket</i>, and it's capable of recording in the region of 1920x1080px <i>at the very least</i>, so the very idea of a <i>standalone </i>camcorder has become largely redundant. Not to say they're not still <i>available</i>, and specialised formats like the GoPro are pretty popular for niche markets, but you'd need to have <i>very specific requirements</i> of a video camera if you couldn't make do with a cellphone.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Zoom Out 25X is a very <i>compact </i>model - not necessarily in that it's only intended for the smaller hands of a child, <i>though clearly it is</i> - but fairly realistic in terms of <i>overall </i>design and the specifics of his scant sculpted details. The front of the camera features what <i>could </i>be described as a 'grip' below a couple of grooved and pitted panels suggesting a built-in microphone, as well as a small, translucent panel at the bottom, indicating a built-in lamp. There are shallow-sculpted, silver-painted buttons and what <i>appears</i> to be a latched door - <i>possibly for a memory card of some sort</i> - concealed by the articulated display panel, and then a thumb-operated record button at the back, just <i>below </i>the viewport. The <i>outer </i>face is a bit of a mess, since the robot's head is plainly visible and, while there are <i>another </i>couple of buttons are sculpted onto the hinged panel at the bottom, <i>they are not painted or marked in any way as to their purpose</i>. The barrel of the camera <i>itself</i> is hollow, allowing one to look through the viewfinder at the back, <i>and have a blurry, distorted view of the world in front of the camera</i>. The display panel, <i>in common with other figures in the line</i>, shows the toy's heritage as a delayed <i>Cybertron/Galaxy Force</i> figure rather than a true movie line extension: a sticker featuring <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/cybertron-override-gts.html" target="_blank">Nitro Convoy/Override</a>, albeit with a <i>nod </i>to the movies, in that the time display 07:47 refers to the 4th July release date of the <i>first </i>live action TransFormers movie.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Aside from the immobile, red-painted button at the back and the silver on the main group of buttons, Zoom Out has some gunmetal paint on the lens barrel, a red strip on the sculpted compartment door below the silver buttons, <i>and </i>some darker grey paint on the front 'grip' and mic panels. Aside from that, his <i>only </i>decorations are a Decepticon insignia on the top, just in front of the viewfinder, and his name stamped in black, toward the back, <i>so it's still visible even with the display panel folded down</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">His only <i>active </i>play feature is that the display panel can fold up and down, and rotate a full 360°, <i>for the all-important selfies</i>... however, the sticker is upside-down when facing forward, diminishing the effect somewhat. It's a bit of a shame that the record button isn't <i>pushable</i>... it looks like there <i>should </i>have been space to make it a separate, <i>spring-loaded feature</i>, similar to the shutter button on <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2022/11/real-gear-robots-spyshot-6.html" target="_blank">Spyshot 6</a>, but I'd guess the <i>budget </i>on this figure was too low.</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVvafSWq96Of90VBVJLZJ-5E6-q_kZ91omiJv9LtX_33br4ZbSdjYoOfGqB-hXif3s4kIOMwyM1fcNA2Yopf4e5EM7kYKiggbYAkTBVY2wVH2VWqad951IHjjYfL0i5rIHxyPOEXitUEc/s2048/IMG_1336.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVvafSWq96Of90VBVJLZJ-5E6-q_kZ91omiJv9LtX_33br4ZbSdjYoOfGqB-hXif3s4kIOMwyM1fcNA2Yopf4e5EM7kYKiggbYAkTBVY2wVH2VWqad951IHjjYfL0i5rIHxyPOEXitUEc/w150-h200/IMG_1336.JPG" /></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnAKV0Ir04RNz7ZnnRSp5LIHHX-kSWml4JutJvRHQ_pX9aBc55w7c_0ladteI4Ed8tz7Kj4rk5st6w8FCu0i0jG31FMxHDt_wUuseBM20q1IijztKKxV5QqcuqfQYyE57w9gqCgogczvw/s2048/IMG_1341.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnAKV0Ir04RNz7ZnnRSp5LIHHX-kSWml4JutJvRHQ_pX9aBc55w7c_0ladteI4Ed8tz7Kj4rk5st6w8FCu0i0jG31FMxHDt_wUuseBM20q1IijztKKxV5QqcuqfQYyE57w9gqCgogczvw/w200-h150/IMG_1341.JPG" width="200" /></a>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<u><b>Robot Mode:</b></u>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Well, another <i>Real Gear Robot</i>, another <i>simplistic and ugly robot mode</i>. The exaggerated broadness of the shoulders reminds me of the Kenny Everett character 'General Cheeseburger', and the way some of the camera panels fold up to form his chest leaves a gaping hole in his body, <i>plainly visible from the sides</i>. The arms are handled <i>very </i>strangely, with the rotation joint being <i>part </i>of the camera's main barrel, but then <i>outward </i>movement is handled by a pinned joint immediately below, <i>giving the effect of a slightly shorter robot wearing an excessively-shouldered costume accessory</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Like most of his contemporaries, there's not a great deal of sculpted detail on display in robot mode. The arms and thighs are the only parts <i>unique </i>to this mode, and they're all fairly simplistic. It is interesting to note that his claws, <i>while not mobile</i>, are serrated on the <i>insides</i>, but the <i>other </i>limb detailing is pretty perfunctory <i>and the forearms are partially hollow</i>. What's really strange is that the <i>majority </i>of the sculpted detail on this figure is simply not visible... <i>because it's on the inner faces of his larger panels</i>. For example, lift up the chest panel, and details reminiscent of the <i>G1 </i>TV show's animation model for Reflector become visible, along with an element that looks almost like <i>a watch battery, held in place by a clip</i>, along with some random pipework. The inside of the raised panel only really looks like shallow <i>armour </i>detailing, and is nothing special. Perhaps the <i>craziest </i>feature, though, is the digital display panel's <i>role </i>in his robot mode. Not content with being a mere <i>cape</i>, like on <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2022/11/real-gear-robots-speed-dial-800.html" target="_blank">Speed Dial 800</a>, the panel actually <i>splits open</i> to become <i>a pair of wings on some kind of directable jet pack</i>. The back panel essentially <i>remains </i>as a cape, <i>albeit a nicely detailed cape, even if the details are a little vague as to their purpose</i>. The detailing on the <i>insides </i>of the wings looks like barely embellished <i>structural support</i> for the most part, but it's also <i>somewhat </i>reminiscent of the stickers on <i>G1 </i>Buzzsaw/Laserbeak's wings. The overall effect is almost like Zoom Out is wearing a legless beetle on his back. None of this more elaborate detailing is painted, <i>but that should come as no surprise considering it's all hidden from view</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It seems to me that the head sculpt is a little reminiscent of a Megatron, <i>but with elements of the Borg from Star Trek</i>. It's almost as if the traditional 'bucket-head' helmet was stripped open, and implants - <i>most notably the enlarged optical sensor on the righthand side</i> - were grafted in. The expression is very on-brand for both Megatron <i>and </i>the Borg, so it's really only the colourscheme that stands out as anything unusual. A pale, desaturated blue helmet coupled with a pale, desaturated purple face isn't the most <i>intuitive </i>choice and either the purple paint is very heavy, it's been applied <i>over the top</i> of the pale blue, <i>or the sculpt around the mouth just isn't that sharp</i>. The cheekbones and jutting chin are suitably pronounced, but the mouth is barely there. The enlarged optic seems <i>offset </i>from where I'd expect it to be, given the position of the <i>normal </i>eye, but I guess it's not intended for the sort of binocular vision humans enjoy... and I quite like the <i>asymmetry </i>of it.</div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Aside from the wraparound chest panels, much of Zoom Out's transformation is not dissimilar to the likes of <i>G1 </i>Rumble/Frenzy or Speed Dial 800. It's fairly obvious that the asymmetrical legs simply fold up around the robot's sides - <i>the camera's front and back</i> - with the arms tucking in (<i>somewhat awkwardly</i>) thanks to a groove on the inside of the knees. In all honesty, it might have been simpler <i>and more reliable </i>to just make the claws <i>shorter</i>. The remainder of the transformation is unfurling the <i>chest</i>, tucking the <i>head </i>in at the front, and then folding the chest panels back around his <i>pelvis </i>to close off the bottom of the camera. It's all very simple, and the <i>only </i>sticking point is getting the forearms into position to be enclosed by the lower legs.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">I've already mentioned the <i>curious </i>articulation of the arms, but it's worth adding that the cape is marginally <i>wider </i>than the inner edge of the shoulder rotation, <i>meaning it has to be finagled out of the way to permit any backward movement</i>. Initially, I thought there was a stopping point for the rotation, since the joint seemed to stop firmly at a specific point, <i>regardless </i>of whether the arms were rotated forward or back, <i>but it is just the cape getting in the way</i>. The hinge allows the arms to swing out by <i>about </i>90°, then the ball-jointed elbow offers 90° bend <i>and </i>has to fill in for the lack of bicep rotation. There's no waist rotation, but the hips can kick forward, back <i>and </i>out to the sides through a little <i>more </i>than 90°. Due to transformation, he has a rotation joint a little bit <i>above </i>the knee, and then the knee <i>itself </i>can bend to about 135°. Naturally, there are no ankle joints, but he's reasonably stable <i>even in some quite dynamic poses, despite generally standing on the inner edges of the 'feet'</i>. The head is on a ball joint, supplemented by the transformation joint, which allows him to tilt his head back slightly (<i>a small tab on the back butts up against the cape, but it can be forced further, such that the back of his head hits the cape</i>) and forward until it hits his chest. The ball joint itself allows 360° rotation, and a small amount of tilt in <i>any </i>direction.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">In a lot of ways, Zoom Out 25X is little more than a <i>marginal </i>improvement on Speed Dial 800 in terms of his engineering, The transformation is <i>remarkably </i>similar, but his device mode is slightly more <i>interesting</i>, and his robot mode <i>far </i>more dynamic and stable. That said, Speed Dial 800 is easily the lowest point in the <i>Real Gear Robots</i> toyline, so that's not exactly a <i>recommendation</i>. There's still a sense that Zoom Out could have been <i>better</i>, and making him slightly <i>larger </i>could have facilitated this. As TransFormers video cameras go, <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2016/06/armada-laserbeak.html" target="_blank"><i>Armada</i> Laserbeak</a> has proven to be a difficult figure to top, but it's fairly clear that, even if <i>Real Gear Robots</i> was originally intended to be parallel to the <i>Unicron Trilogy</i>, none of them could have competed with the earlier, larger-format Laserbeak with his spring-loaded <i>and </i>battery-operated play features. <br /></div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-13836016755304578892023-03-15T19:57:00.001+00:002023-03-15T20:03:41.914+00:00War for Cybertron: Kingdom/Golden Disk Collection Mutant Tigatron<div style="text-align: left;">Looking back on the <i>War For Cybertron Trilogy</i>, now that we're entering the <i>second </i>year of <i>Legacy</i>, it is quite easily apparent that it was a <i>troubled </i>toyline from the very start. How much it was affected by COVID-19 is anyone's guess but the line, <i>as a whole</i>, was an occasionally glorious <i>trainwreck</i>, with little in the way of consistent <i>direction</i>, particularly when the Netflix series is included in its context.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Siege </i>was a toyline that didn't live up to its promise <i>and which ended before it really got started</i>. Its accompanying show didn't feature <i>half </i>the molds <i>or </i>characters available, yet introduced some who <i>weren't</i> represented on the toy shelves. <i>Earthrise </i>was yet another in Hasbro's <i>seemingly interminable</i> series of 'true' <i>G1 </i>reboots, yet half the expected characters wound up in the <i>Studio Series '86</i> line, while the animated series was a continuation of <i>Siege</i> that had <i>zero </i>connection to the toyline beyond certain specific figures. <i>Kingdom</i>, meanwhile, was seemingly cobbled together from the end of <i>Earthrise </i>and a <i>Beast Wars</i> anniversary toyline which has continued into <i>Legacy </i>without ever <i>properly </i>acknowledging <i>Beast Wars</i>, or its anniversary, and the Netflix show kept the same old <i>Siege </i>CGI for the Autobots and, while it introduced <i>some </i>of the Maximals, <i>most of the Predacons were absent</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So it seems strange that Hasbro chose to <i>further </i>muddy the waters by creating <i>several unrelated boxed sets</i>, all of which featuring either repaints or minimal retools. The Golden Disk Collection would have been an easy pass for me, in its entirety, were it not for Hasbro's decision to make Terrorsaur part of the set rather than a mainstream <i>Kingdom </i>toy. This one was only of mild interest to me, because the original Tigatron figure was unexpectedly good... but, at £32, Mutant Tigatron was a figure I decided I could live without. <i>However</i>, as part of Hasbro's Advent sale in the run-up to Christmas 2022, they dropped his price to <i>just £16</i>... and I found I could no longer resist.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span><a name='more'></a></span><b><u>Packaging:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">In my write-up of <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2022/02/war-for-cybertron-kingdomgolden-disk.html" target="_blank">Terrorsaur</a>, I described his enclosed packaging as 'dull', <i>and there's really nothing new here</i>. The front of the box shows a <i>different </i>section of the Golden Disk - <i>the idea being that putting all the boxes together revealed an image of the complete Disk</i> - while the back shows a couple of product shots on a stony background... These images are nothing special - <i>beast mode standing still, robot mode in a fairly basic pose</i> - and could have been made much <i>larger </i>considering how much space is left <i>around </i>them. It also shows a couple of discrepancies with the figure itself, in that his pelvis and collar are shown as <i>orange</i>, while the hands, the tip of his gun and his heel spurs are <i>turquoise</i>. As you'll see below, the <i>opposite </i>is true on the final toy.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">What's <i>really </i>disappointing is that there was <i>supposed </i>to be a story behind the <i>Golden Disk Collection</i>, that actually explained the origin or purpose of this 'mutant' version of Tigatron... <i>but there isn't even a single-sentence bio printed anywhere on the box</i>... Given the vast amount of otherwise unused space on the back, they surely could have added <i>something</i> to give him a bit of <i>context</i>.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Beast Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Since Mutant Tigatron is a simple repaint as far as his beast mode is concerned, there's not <i>much </i>to say here. The orange plastic is quite <i>desaturated</i>, and the painted black strips on his fur are <i>100% identical to the standard version</i>. The only real difference is that the patches of darker fur on the original's <i>hindquarters </i>have been replaced with an ugly cream colour on his chest and 'beard', <i>mostly painted with harsh edges that don't complement the sculpted detail in any way</i>. Like the original, the eyes are gold, but this one actually got some paint <i>inside </i>the mouth.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Around the face in particular, there is some <i>feathering </i>of the cream paint and, while it could be <i>optimistically </i>or <i>generously </i>interpreted as an attempt to blend it in and make it look more realistic, it's clearly <i>not </i>intentional, and just looks untidy. What it really needed - <i>to look more like a real-life tiger</i> - was for the entire belly and the inner faces of his back legs to have some of the off-white paint. I know it's all cost-related, but this figure's RRP was <i>higher </i>than that of 'normal' Tigatron, <i>and yet it feels like more corners were cut here</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">On the whole, while I certainly <i>like </i>this version, it's not quite so <i>striking </i>as the standard version, and nothing about it really <i>earns </i>the increased RRP. In no way does it <i>look </i>or <i>feel </i>like a premium product.</div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Robot Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">As with beast mode, there's <i>not </i>a lot of difference here apart from the head and the colourscheme... And the <i>latter </i>continues the pattern set by beast mode: <i>it's rather disappointing</i>. Granted, the turquoise on the front of his pelvis <i>helps </i>to break things up a little, <i>but the decision to use the same flat, creamy paint for his thigh armour and shins was seriously flawed</i>. Additionally, while the original Tigatron has some <i>pearlescent </i>paint on key parts, <i>this one has no special finish at all</i>. Except for the black tiger stripes and the cream armour panels, <i>everything </i>on the body is bare plastic... So this 'special collection' figure looks <i>less </i>special than the regular retail version of <i>Kingdom </i>Tigatron. A few applications of either <i>metallic </i>turquoise - <i>or, if that was too similar to the standard version, perhaps copper or gold</i> - would have worked wonders here, as it's left to the pelvis, shoulders and collar, the elbow joints and head to add variety. It just needed <i>something </i>to break the <i>almost literal monotony</i> of the plastic</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Even the weapon has the same, <i>single </i>application of pink paint over the 'gut' section at the back. Having <i>both </i>components molded in orange plastic - <i>unlike the image on the back of the box</i> - means this version looks <i>ridiculous</i>. I could <i>just about</i> get behind the white version packaged with the <i>original </i>Tigatron, but a mostly unpainted <i>orange </i>weapon doesn't exactly look fearsome or dangerous -<i> it looks like he's wielding a toy weapon, in-universe</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The so-called mutant head sculpt is based on the alternate head of the original <i>Beast Wars</i> toy, accessed on that by simply flipping the robot head down in its mounting. This is actually quite a good rendition. It's a weird, <i>somewhat insectoid-looking</i> sculpt that <i>absolutely </i>looks like a mask. It's not especially <i>detailed</i>, but seems to feature teeth and/or mandibles protruding around what must be a mouth. One has to wonder why, <i>if this sculpt exists</i>, the <i>Kingdom </i>Tigatron toy wasn't made with the option to swap the face out, in homage to that feature of the original... but I guess the <i>Kingdom </i>toy was styled after the character in the TV show rather than the original toy,<i> and the mutant masks were not used in the TV show</i>. As with beast mode, the bulbous eyes are painted gold, but the <i>sockets </i>were left unpainted. A touch of <i>black </i>paint here would have really brought them to life and <i>highlighted </i>their unusual shape... but, then again, a touch of paint on the teeth would <i>also </i>have been welcome.</div>
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<br />
<div><br /></div><div>The main problems with <i>Golden Disk Collection</i> Mutant Tigatron are that it owes <i>everything </i>that makes it a great figure to the <i>original, mass-release </i>Tigatron toy, and the changes to his colourscheme and paint job are not significant enough to make it worth the (<i>admittedly small</i>) increase in cost. Quite the contrary, in fact, as his paintwork appears much <i>less </i>extensive throughout. Without any real <i>context </i>for the figure - the precise <i>who</i>, <i>why </i>and <i>how </i>of <i>Mutant </i>Tigatron - there's no real <i>point </i>to it... and, while I believe there <i>was </i>some small explanation of who and why he is on his product page on Hasbro Pulse <i>but, with the figure now sold out, it's been delisted, and is only accessible if you search for it specifically</i>. For the record, here's what it had to say:</div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><i>"The Golden Disk is a powerful artifact with the ability to reveal knowledge of the past, the future, and of the infinite possible destinies throughout time. Discover an alternate timeline in which the quantum surge that mutated many Maximals and Predacons into Transmetals, goes very differently…</i></div></div><div><div><i><br /></i></div></div><div><div><i>"The quantum surge kills all Maximals and Predacons, except Tigatron. He survives, but the surge left him severely mutated, aggressive, and savage. He doesn’t remember his allegiance to the Maximals, and another survivor plots to take advantage…</i></div></div><div><div><i><br /></i></div></div><div><div><i>"Mutant Tigatron figure converts to tiger mode in 22 steps. He comes with his classic Quasar Cannon and tail whip accessories."</i></div></div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>Given that Terrorsaur was the only <i>Beast Wars</i> antagonist (<i>not to mention the only other Beast Wars character</i>) in the collection -<i> the other sets being Puffer & Road Ranger and Jackpot & Sights</i> - one can presume that he's the other survivor referenced... But his own blurb only spoke of his intent to somehow travel back in time (again?!) and become the Predacon leader. The blurb on the other sets was pretty much nonsense, and none of it really connecting into anything resembling a narrative beyond <i>"quantum surge causes time vortex that brings random characters into the Beast Wars era"</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I suppose there's <i>some </i>merit to the figure simply as another use of the excellent <i>Kingdom</i> Tigatron mold. It certainly seems like a <i>no-brainer</i> to recolour the mold into the more common type of tiger but, at the end of the day, all it really proves is that Hasbro don't really understand <i>how </i>to make special/exclusive figures... Either that, or they lack the <i>will </i>to make them in any way <i>special</i>... and I'm inclined to believe it's more the <i>former</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because Mutant Tigatron is <i>precisely </i>the sort of thing I could imagine the TransFormers Collectors' Club producing, back in the day, either as a Club exclusive, or as part of a BotCon set, <i>and I can pretty much guarantee they would have done it better</i>. Not least, they wouldn't have left so many robot parts unpainted, and they would have woven his story into their ongoing <i>Timelines </i>narrative (<i>if a Club exclusive</i>) or made a complete one-shot story to support it (<i>if a BotCon figure</i>). As it stands, <i>Golden Disk Collection</i> Mutant Tigatron is an eminently missable curiosity... much like <i>all </i>of Hasbro's misguided 'capsule programme' toys.</div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-34994285845953396462023-03-13T15:40:00.001+00:002023-03-13T15:40:17.802+00:00Studio Series #91 The Fallen<div style="text-align: left;"><i>
Ostensibly </i>released toward the end of 2022, this figure was rumoured to not be getting a widespread release in the UK, and was almost instantly listed on Hasbro
Pulse as 'Sold Out'. Having seemingly missed out <i>there</i>, I bookmarked the
figure on Amazon, <i>despite it being priced significantly higher initially</i>, and
ended up ordering after Christmas, at a <i>slight</i> discount, using some of the
Amazon vouchers I'd received as a gift. Unfortunately, the copy I received was
not only <i>headless</i>, but missing the mask accessory, so I had to send it
straight back and claim a refund.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><i>
By this point</i>, Hasbro Pulse miraculously had stocks again and, given that their <i>standard
</i> price was just 90p more than the <i>discounted </i>price I'd just paid on
Amazon, I figured I may as well order there... <i>Free delivery as well, thanks to the current Leader class pricepoint, which is always a
bonus</i>.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Now, I'm not a <i>fan </i>of The Fallen, <i>per se</i>. Back when I wrote about the
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/revenge-of-fallen-fallen.html" target="_blank">original, Voyager class figure</a>
from 2009, I described it as <i>"what would happen if you let H.R. Giger design a
TransFormer"</i> and as exemplifying <i>"everything that was </i>wrong <i>with the
TransFormers movie robots"</i>. In retrospect, I have decided that I like the design, <i>in and of itself</i>,
but I just don't think it works even as <i>an ancient Cybertronian quasi-deity</i>.
The bizarre, monstrous appearance, coupled with the fact that he never
transformed in the movie, was a huge missed opportunity within the franchise... but then,
<i>introducing </i>a villain like The Fallen in just the <i>second </i>live action movie, only to kill him off so easily at the end, was
the <i>quintessential </i>missed opportunity, <i>as well as being, just generally, a terrible mistake on the part of the 'writers'</i>. Perhaps if the writers' strike
had been resolved <i>sooner</i>, the movie could have been more coherent, and The
Fallen a better-developed and more 'normal'-looking character, <i>with a more significant impact on the franchise</i> rather than just another Scooby-Doo villain of the week...
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
...But let's not dwell on <i>what might have been</i>... Because here we have
Hasbro's <i>latest </i>attempt at creating a <i>toy </i>based on the bonkers CGI, and all we
need to know is whether or not it's <i>better </i>than the original.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span><a name='more'></a></span><b><u>"Vehicle" Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><i>Well, early signs aren't good</i>... But then, all things considered, how <i>would </i>anyone create a <i>sensible </i>vehicle mode out of such a <i>nonsense </i>robot mode as The Fallen was lumbered with. This is essentially the same 'dreadnought' as the original Voyager, but <i>without </i>the superfluous nosecone that ended up <i>poking up from the robot's backside</i>, and with the <i>addition </i>of the wing/tendon things <i>looping up</i> from the folded-over forearms and then <i>down</i> to the folded-back legs. The hands go <i>completely </i>uncovered, as before, while the head is concealed by the robot's chest, lifted up and back over it, and the two halves of his staff weapon get tabbed into the 'wings'. <i>For the most part</i>, it looks no more <i>or </i>no less discernibly like a spacecraft <i>or </i>aircraft, <i>Cybertronian or otherwise</i>...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">...However, it <i>does </i>have a few advantages. First and foremost, the way the head -<i> or, more specifically, the mask</i> - is designed, <i>this </i>version of The Fallen gains a <i>visible </i>means of propulsion, in the form of what looks like <i>a massive rocket booster</i>, molded in translucent orange plastic and nestled in the middle at the back of the craft. Secondly... this version of the figure is <i>not </i>molded predominantly in <i>a weird green plastic</i>. It first glance, it looks like a mixture of unremarkable <i>greys</i> but, upon closer inspection, a large number of his parts are molded in a <i>dark, smoky translucent</i> plastic. While this doesn't necessarily seem like a logical choice, <i>not least in terms of the reduced structural integrity of translucent plastic these days, versus opaque</i>, it's no <i>so</i> translucent that it becomes conspicuous, or makes him look <i>insubstantial</i>. I can't help but think that, <i>even just a few years ago</i>, there might have been some kind of <i>sparkle</i> component added to the plastic but, <i>given the propensity for breakage in Hasbro's output over the last few years</i>, it was probably a wise choice to leave it out. Other components, <i>such as the forked nose section, the exposed hands and feet and, of course, the tendon things</i>, are molded in opaque, fairly metallic-looking grey plastic which blends in surprisingly well, but it's a weirdly soft plastic that seems to bend more than it ought to. I guess it's a safety feature, and it doesn't harm the appearance of the toy in any discernible way... it just feels weird. The cockpit canopy is molded in the translucent orange plastic, and looks as if it's hinged to open, but apparently not. Also, it's good to finally see this character in more neutral colours, considering the first toy was dark green, one of the store exclusives was black and orange, and the updated version released in 2010 was shades of blue/cyan.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Paintwork is pretty <i>meagre</i>. Where the original toy had <i>plenty </i>of orange lines painted into the various nooks and crannies, there's <i>substantially </i>less in evidence here. Moreover, in the areas where it's applied to some parts, but not others - <i>most notably on the articulated tendon attachments tabbed onto the wings</i> - it genuinely looks like a production error, but this dearth of highlights is apparent on <i>every</i> copy I've seen in photos and videos. The orange paint applications on the forearms are facing <i>inward </i>in this mode, while those on the upper arms are <i>covered </i>by the lower arms. Those on the legs - <i>actually only the thighs</i> - are barely visible, with some obscured below the robot's hands. Thankfully, orange highlights are <i>not</i> the extent of this version's paint job. The forearms - <i>because there's no use trying to pretend they're something else, even in this ostensible 'vehicle' mode</i> - have a series of ridges that are highlighted with silver paint, and there are similarly painted protrusions from the cuffs, as well as ridged sections on the fronts of the 'wings'. The midsection of the craft features a block of metallic cyan paint alongside <i>further </i>hints of this <i>and </i>silver on the small parts of the robot's head/mask poking out around its edges. <i>Most </i>of this tends to blend into the overall <i>greyness </i>of the toy at a distance, with only the translucent orange canopy standing out.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One <i>other </i>advantage this toy has over the 2009 original is that it actually includes the staff wielded by The Fallen in the movie. Granted, the 2010 retool/repaint <i>also </i>had a staff, so this version isn't <i>wholly unique</i> in that respect. Sadly, the staff really doesn't <i>do </i>much in this mode, simply splitting in half and plugging into the 'wings'. The 5mm pegs that facilitate this are quite a way up the shaft on either end, <i>which leaves an awful lot of the shaft hanging off at the back</i>. That said, if one can get behind the wing 'tendons', it's not <i>too </i>much of a stretch to accept these two spears on the wings as <i>some </i>form of weapon. Given a <i>choice</i>, though, I'd have gone with a staff that split into <i>three </i>parts, allowing for smaller, more <i>unobtrusive </i>additions to the 'wings', and for the main shaft to end up somewhere less <i>conspicuous</i>.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Robot Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">The original, 2009 Voyager class figure - <i>in isolation, at the time, and having been based on early production artwork rather than final CGI</i> - was a fair attempt at making a plastic toy based on an <i>extremely </i>abstract design. <i>Even at the time</i>, I didn't think something like the Bayverse version of The Fallen should exist in the TransFormers franchise. It was <i>a Giger-esque nightmare of distorted proportions and biomechanical horror</i> that was just too incongruous, even with the inclusion of Sam's dream-sequence in which the <i>other </i>original Primes revealed themselves. I might have been on board with the idea of Megatron <i>declining </i>to adopt a terrestrial disguise, but for <i>all </i>of the Primes <i>and </i>the movie's ostensible main antagonist to appear <i>so </i>different from <i>every other Cybertronian we had thusfar encountered</i> seemed like a huge mistake, and toys based on CGI models for which transformation hadn't been any consideration, <i>let alone an afterthought</i>, really weren't doing the concept <i>or </i>the design any favours.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Given that I <i>still </i>don't like the idea, the design, <i>or </i>the execution, it might seem strange that I would willingly pay the <i>current </i>RRP of a Leader class <i>Studio Series</i> toy for <i>a figure which I must surely dislike every bit as much as the original</i>... But I have a tendency to be more interested in toys that are <i>expected </i>to be in short supply and seeing this figure in action, <i>both in video reviews and publicity photos</i>, there's no denying how good it looks... Also, <i>let's face it</i>, I'm really no stranger to finding an <i>appreciation </i>for TransFormers figures (<i>and their analogues</i>) <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2021/03/unique-toys-r-03-dragoon.html" target="_blank">that don't look like TransFormers</a>. Studio Series #91 basically epitomises one of the <i>precious few</i> recent examples of the fear of missing out, as represented by an articulated plastic figure.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I mean, ignoring any reservations one might have about the design itself, this thing looks <i>incredible</i>... The dark, smoky, translucent plastic looks every bit as solid as it did in vehicle mode, while adding a somewhat <i>ethereal </i>quality to his <i>already </i>alien appearance when it catches the light. One thing the original toy got <i>completely </i>wrong, <i>due to being strangely flat in its torso</i>, was The Fallen's weird posture. His chest was strangely <i>bulbous</i>, as if the rib cage were protruding more at the <i>bottom</i>, such that the upper body never really looked like he was standing <i>erect </i>unless in an exaggerated pose, and this version gets that <i>pretty much spot on</i>. It's difficult to know exactly how to pose the legs, body and head for a <i>neutral</i>, standing pose, but <i>any </i>dynamic pose tends to look awesome, thanks to the detailed sculpt of his gangly, alien form.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The sculpt is largely <i>phenomenal</i>, with the details looking more like some kind of <i>chitinous shell</i> than anything remotely robotic, particularly with the protrusion from the back of the forearms, <i>behind the elbow joint</i>, and on the ridged, horned thighs. There's intricately sculpted detailing on his back, <i>even in the area that gets covered over by the tendons joining his back to his forearms</i>, suggesting layers of rib-like strips of metal, as well as around his collar, in the areas concealed behind the 'frill' on his mask. By comparison to almost any <i>other </i>TransFormers figure, <i>even those based on the early excesses of Bayverse design, if not the later 'Knight' aesthetic</i>, there's an absence of <i>practicality </i>or <i>utility </i>to his appearance, so he never quite <i>fit </i>among the other Cybertronian robots, and there's a clear impression that this robot design was never <i>intended </i>to transform. As well as the softer, opaque metallic grey plastic, there is a handful of components - <i>the small horns on his inner thighs and the folding spikes on his shoulders</i> - that are molded in a <i>rubbery </i>plastic that also appears to be translucent, albeit far more <i>dense </i>than the more rigid plastic components. I can understand the reasoning behind the shoulder spikes, since they are quite thin and might otherwise be prone to <i>breakage</i>, but the chunky horns on his inner thighs don't seem to warrant <i>that </i>kind of caution. Where hollowness has become a significant problem in mainline toys, and is becoming increasingly prevalent in Studio Series, it's nice to see that the only egregious examples on The Fallen are on the inner faces of his knees, the palms of his hands and the undersides of his toes. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Paintwork appears rather more plentiful in robot mode, <i>but it's not as if 'vehicle' mode set a particularly high bar to clear</i>. There's <i>still </i>a dearth of orange 'glow' paint applications,<i> which is pretty ridiculous considering that some kind of 'inner fire' was the character's motif in the comics, and one of the few things the CGI designers deigned to carry over into the movie</i>. The applications on the legs are just as thoroughly <i>obscured </i>in robot mode as they were in vehicle mode, there are four <i>pinstripes </i>of orange on either side of the chest shell, and then odd highlights on the arms - <i>three on each forearm, two on each shoulder</i> - but there needed to be a lot more to really do justice to the character's design. Surprisingly, there are also applications of orange now visible on the <i>forward-facing</i> part of the tendons coming out of his back but, <i>again</i>, they appear on only <i>one </i>section of the main, hinged, 'wing' part. The original toy didn't have <i>much </i>paint variety, but the one thing it did have was <i>a lot more orange 'glow'</i>. Aside from this, the only paint applications visible in robot mode that were obscured in 'vehicle' mode are the touches of silver and metallic cyan on his arms. These look alright but, <i>given they're supposed to hint at The Fallen's almost iridescent metallic finish</i>, they fall well short of requirement. Thanks to the weird, 'gorilla arms' arrangement of his arms, the applications of silver on the nubs running the length of his forearm are mostly <i>less </i>visible in robot mode than they were in vehicle mode.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Technically</i>, the only accessories packaged with this figure are the two halves of his magical-staff-of-indeterminate-purpose from the movie... and it <i>had </i>to be two halves because, while he has the standard 5mm 'grip', it's set within his 'thumbs' - <i>upper and lower</i> - on each hand, so one half of the staff has to be slid into either hand <i>before </i>the other half is connect. This <i>also </i>results in a wholly unconvincing grip, since <i>none </i>of his fingers are articulated... One can only hope that DNA Design will soon produce replacements, as they have for other <i>Studio Series</i> figures, such as Jetfire, which were cursed with <i>next-to-useless fixed-pose hands</i>. I will say that the claw-like sculpt looks good <i>in isolation</i>, but the lack of genuine <i>functionality </i>really hurts them and, given that his weapon is a <i>spear</i>, it's surely not too much to expect <i>hands that can make adequate use of it</i>. The detailing of the spear is not bad... but, <i>slender as it is</i>, the pointed ends still seem to have some <i>indented </i>portions where I'd have expected them to be either <i>raised </i>or at least <i>more consistent</i>. The main issue from my point of view is that it's so plain - just bare grey plastic. The spear was <i>barely </i>used in the film, and seemed only to be on screen for a couple of seconds at a time. However, in the scene where The Fallen was levitating tanks, etc. around the pyramid, and then dashing them to the ground, the spear can be seen to <i>glow</i>... so a few touches of the metallic cyan paint would have been nice. Mine was also slightly <i>bent</i>, straight out of the box, though I'd imagine dunking it in hot water for a while would allow me to straighten it, <i>should I wish to do so</i>. The two 5mm pegs on the spear's shaft end up on the same side which, <i>while beneficial for photography, since they can both be hidden easily enough</i>, leaves it looking a little unbalanced. Each half of the staff <i>can </i>be just as easily wielded individually, since there's more than enough 5mm diameter shaft, but that use was never suggested in the movie.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I say the spear is 'technically' his only accessory because his mask was wrapped in paper and taped to the <i>rear </i>of the figure's card backing, rather than actually fitted to his head <i>in-box</i>. Back in 2009, I knew the old toy's head sculpt wasn't that accurate, <i>aside from it being almost bereft of paint and without functional light piping</i>. The improvements made for this version are nothing short of amazing. Granted, his 'frill' is unarticulated plastic, but it's molded in a <i>softer </i>translucent plastic, so there is some <i>flex</i>. Given the choice of material, the sculpt of the face and its surprisingly extensive <i>and </i>intricately detailed, coming across - <i>appropriately to the setting of the movie's climactic battle</i> - like some sort of Egyptian deity, or some reject from the <i>Stargate </i>movie/tv series. Paintwork is limited to metallic cyan on the 'frill' and on his chin, four blobs of orange across his brow, with silver around the eyes, on the sides of his mandibles and on his central crest, while the <i>main </i>part of his elongated forehead is molded in the metallic grey plastic. <i>Beneath </i>the mask, The Fallen's 'true face' looks weirdly <i>bird-like</i>, and is just as intricately sculpted as the mask. His 'beak' and the ends of the cables running over the top of his head are painted gold, with silver applied around the eyes, on the raised detail of his forehead, and on his sunken 'nose'. What's <i>particularly </i>impressive is that both the mask <i>and </i>the underlying head feature light-piped eyes, <i>and it's equally effective whether he's wearing the mask or not</i>. Also quite effective is that, since the base head is molded in more of the <i>translucent </i>grey plastic, the translucent orange chunk that gives him his light-piped eyes is visible <i>through </i>the unpainted areas of the head, <i>giving it precisely the impression of inner glow effect the rest of the figure needed</i>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4h_b4Yyxus9q-ZUjqKveqX6mArO7oXo1o6lgH15xus6_vCd2WevFqX2topCgltQA16bkjbi34pNJIBCTGJgajDQeEws6A5ntqNGuDEqfdH1WgkYmHYnrPc78IqDAsytG057IOkn949scEVY-6YLeTSZSm1Ty-9gVRojz2e4g9MKSKmEzGGbH_jD1w/s3264/IMG_5731.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4h_b4Yyxus9q-ZUjqKveqX6mArO7oXo1o6lgH15xus6_vCd2WevFqX2topCgltQA16bkjbi34pNJIBCTGJgajDQeEws6A5ntqNGuDEqfdH1WgkYmHYnrPc78IqDAsytG057IOkn949scEVY-6YLeTSZSm1Ty-9gVRojz2e4g9MKSKmEzGGbH_jD1w/w150-h200/IMG_5731.JPG" /></a>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">
Transformation is <i>remarkably similar </i>to the original Voyager, but for a few
key points. First and foremost, the feet are no longer spring-loaded, so one
has to <i>manually </i>fold them down into their 'vehicle' mode configuration which, <i>on balance</i>, I'd call a huge improvement. Alongside that, the
arms and legs peg together <i>differently </i>- no <i>more </i>or <i>less </i>secure than on the original, but certainly
less <i>fiddly</i>. Aside from that, the inclusion of <i>larger, articulated</i> 'ligaments'
between the torso and the forearms adds another level of <i>fun </i>to the
proceedings, since they essentially require partsforming - the 'wing' parts unplugging from his <i>back </i>and then tabbing into the ankles. It's <i>theoretically possible</i> to do this without detaching the ball joints in the forearms but, <i>chances are</i>, they're going to fall out during transformation <i>one way or the other</i>. One <i>huge </i>improvement is with the head: while the original had the robot's head only <i>loosely covered </i>by a panel that concertinaed out from his <i>back</i>, this one has an <i>enormous </i>chunk of shell from his chest on a double hinge, allowing it to <i>unplug </i>from the torso and slip over (<i>most of</i>) the head. It doesn't tab into place in 'vehicle' mode, but it's still <i>vastly more secure</i> than on the original, <i>and does a better job of disguising the head</i>. The only downside is that the robot's hands remain <i>completely exposed</i> in 'vehicle' mode, as there's simply nowhere to <i>put </i>them. They <i>can </i>be rotated around and/or angled inward on their hinge, but there isn't a single configuration that disguises <i>what they are</i>. Then again, <i>no matter how hard one might squint</i>, The Fallen's vehicle mode never looks any less like a freakishly alien 'robot' folded into a very uncomfortable yoga position.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">While the articulation on this version of The Fallen is on par with the average <i>Studio Series</i> figure in most respects, <i>and even better than some</i>, the tendons connecting his forearms to his back are a significant <i>limiting </i>factor, and their ball joints are very prone to popping apart (<i>though this is likely intentional</i>). The mountings in the forearms are, <i>themselves</i>, articulated to offer a <i>somewhat </i>wider range of motion, but the arms can't easily <i>raise</i> much beyond 90° while the tendons are connected, <i>even though the part that connects to the back is hinged in several places</i>. The main issue is that, while these sections can swing forward and back, the additional hinges for <i>raising </i>them keeps the ball socket at exactly the same angle to each other. Had the socket on the 'wing' portion been arrange to tilt as it raised, the active range of his arms would be increased slightly. Additionally, the shoulder joint intended for <i>articulation </i>is much tighter than the <i>transformation </i>joint, and the arms don't tab securely onto the sides of the torso meaning, <i>inevitably</i>, the whole shoulder is likely to <i>untab</i> more readily than the <i>intended </i>shoulder joint is to <i>move</i>. His bicep rotation is <i>technically </i>unrestricted, except when the tendon is plugged in, while the elbows are double-jointed for transformation, and would be able to bend <i>fully </i>back to the shoulder <i>without </i>that tendon. The wrists have a rotation joint <i>and </i>a hinge for the hand, but then there's a step <i>backward </i>from the 2010 remix of the original toy, in that the hand <i>itself </i>has no articulated fingers. <i>Naturally</i>, there's no waist rotation, but the legs can rotate a full 360° around the hips (<i>subject to the hip spikes and the tendons on the back being kept out of the way, so the legs do need to be angled out for some of that range</i>), and out by a bit <i>more </i>that 45° before the hip spikes start butting up against the body. There's a thigh swivel that can manage <i>at least</i> 180° rotation <i>in spite of those hip spikes</i>, and then there's <i>another </i>rotation joint, just above the knee, for transformation. The knee only manages about 70-80° of bend, and the digitigrade ankle joint is rotation only, <i>again </i>for transformation. It's not <i>entirely </i>useless for posing, just not as good as it <i>could </i>have been with a hinge.The feet can tilt through about 30-40° up and down, about 30° from side to side, and then the 'toes' are hinged for transformation. While they're not <i>much </i>use for articulation, <i>as such</i>, it's nice to be able to wrap them around irregularly-shaped objects for posing purposes, <i>even to so limited a degree</i>, and the joints are tight enough to offer a <i>fair </i>amount of 'grip'. The head itself is on a hinge at the end of a ball jointed neck, with the socket in the top of the body. <i>Neither </i>offer a great deal of range and the neck perhaps could have done with being a touch <i>longer</i>, but his frills would soon get in the way of <i>lateral </i>movement anyway. <i>Beneath </i>the mask, the jaw is separately hinged for dramatic screams when coupled with a <i>Studio Series</i> Optimus Prime figure for quick game of <i>capture-the-face</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Bonus Alleged 'Solar Collector' Fanmode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Not quite sure where this idea <i>originated</i>, but I admit I first saw this suggested in a YouTube video by that certain, <i>somewhat contentious</i> reviewer of early figures, PrimeVsPrime. Some of <i>his </i>method didn't quite look right to me, though, so I've made a few tweaks of my own...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">...Thing is, <i>it still looks nothing like the solar collector in the movie</i>, because the main part of it is at an angle, rather than pointing <i>straight up</i>, and his staff accounts for only <i>two </i>of the four protrusions that surrounded the centrepiece of the machine depicted on screen.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Plus, <i>let's face it</i>, how <i>stupid </i>would it be if The Fallen actually had to transform <i>himself </i>into his Solar Collector?* He wouldn't be in much of a position to <i>defend </i>himself from the Autobots trying to destroy it and save the planet. Still... it's an <i>interesting </i>idea, and no more daft than half of the 'base modes' offered within the <i>Titans Return</i> toyline.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiP3l_42spPVv7g9g2CBLFnpsS8QkHvHhe0Dv-73J3aVcJ3aV-axztDiHkQVmeuqLQs84ibISZh3DWbXtTXH0mcbIk-hUDG0FgSFgHIJ7tf7rQzScn_0zrx0paYQi6I2S1d1T4N5Y-KiQmX2SrUcrgp3pzNTgAh7aiVKTpWl4oj99LhIUstiHQuyaR/s3264/IMG_5693.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiP3l_42spPVv7g9g2CBLFnpsS8QkHvHhe0Dv-73J3aVcJ3aV-axztDiHkQVmeuqLQs84ibISZh3DWbXtTXH0mcbIk-hUDG0FgSFgHIJ7tf7rQzScn_0zrx0paYQi6I2S1d1T4N5Y-KiQmX2SrUcrgp3pzNTgAh7aiVKTpWl4oj99LhIUstiHQuyaR/w150-h200/IMG_5693.JPG" /></a>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Grudgingly</i>, I have to admit that I <i>really like</i> this new version of The Fallen. The idea of it being made largely from <i>translucent </i>plastic, <i>coupled with so much soft plastic</i>, seems like a recipe for poor longevity but, <i>for the moment</i>, it feels sturdy enough. The improved screen accuracy of the tendon-like links between his torso and his forearms hampers articulation <i>in ways that only CGI can make work</i>, and the paint job is very much <i>lacking</i>, but the sculpted detail, particularly the <i>intricacy </i>of the base head <i>and </i>the mask, is excellent. Where the original toy included fold-out panels seemingly taken from pre-production concept art, this version is fairly true to what was seen on-screen, though I can't help but think that the use of translucent plastic was the ideal opportunity to add more of the CGI character's inner 'glow', rather than cheaping out and adding a few lines and blobs of opaque orange paint here and there.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Considering this is sold as a Leader class toy, there's an inevitable comparison to be drawn with <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2018/08/studio-series-blackout.html" target="_blank"><i>Studio Series</i> Blackout</a>... and I'd have to say that <i>The Fallen doesn't do well out of that comparison</i>. The engineering is <i>substantially </i>less complex, The Fallen is <i>obviously </i>very much less bulky, and the two-part staff is a pretty <i>dull </i>accessory compared to the mini Scorponok figure. In terms of height <i>alone</i>, he compares well with 'proper' leader class toys like <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/dotm-sentinel-prime.html" target="_blank"><i>Dark of the Moon</i> Sentinel Prime</a>, if not the awesome <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/revenge-of-fallen-leader-class-optimus.html" target="_blank"><i>RotF</i> Optimus Prime</a> toy but, obviously, he lacks both their complexity <i>and </i>their electronic gimmicks, yet costs £15-20 <i>more </i>than they did upon release. It says something quite significant, <i>I think</i>, that a toy released in 2022 costs more than a toy released in 2018 <i>in the same size class</i>, despite being little bigger than <i>or </i>different from a toy of the same character released in back in 2009, in a <i>smaller </i>size class, <i>and thereby costing about half as much</i>. And it's not even as if this is a particularly good transforming robot toy, because the robot mode barely looks like a robot, while the ostensible 'vehicle' mode still doesn't look like a vehicle, and certainly doesn't represent anything seen on-screen in <i>Revenge of the Fallen</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Even so, as with <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2020/05/studio-series-56-shockwave.html" target="_blank"><i>Studio Series</i> Shockwave</a>, I can't say I feel <i>ripped off</i>, exactly. There is something undeniably <i>compelling </i>about the figure <i>in and of itself</i>, and quite apart from its connection to one of the (<i>worst</i>) live action TransFormers movies. At almost £60 - <i>getting on for £20 more than Leader class toys back when the movie series began, and surely about £10 more than when Studio Series debuted</i> - The Fallen definitely feels overpriced, but not so egregiously overpriced as some of the mainline toys.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So, the bottom line is, for those who percieve a The Fallen-shaped hole in their collection, he <i>is </i>worth acquiring, though I'm reluctant to give him a <i>strong </i>recommendation, and the <i>ideal </i>would be to acquire him at a <i>discount </i>if at all possible. <i>Studio Series</i> The Fallen is a great figure, <i>but a pretty terrible TransFormers toy of a pretty terrible, yet strangely compelling CGI design</i>. It almost feels as though it would have been better off as a <i>non-transforming</i> action figure... not least because, <i>let's face it</i>, that's how most people are likely to treat <i>this </i>toy.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><hr /></div><div style="text-align: left;">* Yes, <i>precisely </i>as stupid as <i>G1 </i>Megatron transforming into a handgun that someone else has to wield... So one has to wonder how <i>and why</i> this fanmode even became a thing.</div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-88152577727996215482023-03-10T10:00:00.006+00:002023-11-03T16:13:55.806+00:00APC Toys Night Countess<div style="text-align: right;"><b><span style="color: #f4cccc;"><i>(Femme-Bot Friday #82)</i></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">
Way back in 2016, a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DaimChocReports/videos/266642383686196/" target="_blank">3D printed figure</a> based on the TransFormers Prime character Airachnid turned up on my
Facebook feed, courtesy of (<i>seemingly former</i>) YouTuber Daimchoc. Given
that Hasbro's own
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/transformers-prime-airachnid.html" target="_blank">Deluxe class toy</a>
was an absolute travesty, <i>any </i>new figure based on that character didn't
exactly have a high bar to clear, but this looked to be phenomenal,
<i>even in its grey/white prototype form</i>. A painted sample appeared not long afterward, looking incredible and, <i>from the moment I first clapped eyes on it</i>, it has been
on my Want List, even though obtaining it seemed unlikely given its provenance. Then again, <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2018/08/alien-attack-stf-01-firage.html" target="_blank">stranger things <i>have</i> happened</a>...</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Imagine my surprise, then, when APC Toys revealed images of their latest
<i>TransFormers Prime</i> figure earlier in the year and, rather than being
<i>just another minor upgrade to an official TF Prime toy</i>, it was that very 3D
printed custom figure, fully painted<i> and very much on the way to a full
production run</i>. The <i>moment </i>it became available, I put in my order... And,
precisely 30 days later, it arrived, straight from China.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Is this new, Third Party take on the <i>other </i>alluring Femme-Bot Fatale
actually <i>any better</i> than Hasbro's? Let's take a look...
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /><span><a name='more'></a></span><b><u>Packaging:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The moment the postman handed me the box, I was reminded of some comments I'd
read about this figure being <i>extremely </i>light - <i>almost as if the box is empty</i>.
I can confirm <i>that is very much the case</i>. Moreover, the box (<i>empty but for the packaging and instruction sheet</i>) weighs more than <i>double </i>its contents: 138g, while Night Countess, her rotor blades <i>and </i>the additional legs for her
predator mode weigh in at <i>just 62g in total</i>. On the one hand, that's great -
<i>the total package being just 200g means she's likely to qualify for the
cheapest postal options, at least as far as UK postage goes</i>. On the other
hand, it doesn't speak highly of the <i>materials </i>used... But, who knows, perhaps
plastic weight is a red herring anyway.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The box is nicely done - good, solid single-walled corrugated card (<i>which explains the weight!</i>), printed in
full colour on all sides, and with a glossy finish. The artwork on the front and back are unique, <i>with the latter being a simpler, more vibrantly-coloured, cel-shaded version of the former</i>, while
the art on the sides is alternate versions of the front cover image. Top and
bottom are <i>mostly </i>bare, though the latter features a sticker showing QR codes
linking to transformation videos.
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Inside, the figure and her accessories are safely encased in a foam tray, with the instructions printed in colour on fairly heavy, glossy paper. The images are all monochrome - <i>so one has to wonder why they bothered printing in colour</i> - and <i>extremely </i>dark and muddy, which makes deciphering <i>some </i>of the steps quite difficult... though transformation is fairly straightforward and self-explanatory, even <i>without </i>recourse to the videos.</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzWozLEpA_EXjwU08TcFt57o_kq4oQpKow5GJlb9O5J_Ey9YOQHmsw310504I7TqrGwNDo_kARNOkqMNP5YVK7qSn3gKOaYPZGqGXahCcgx2X6EZeivEfUCY_EaSlP4cZrz2bJ5kTvpdEMcrSRESjRWrFVitA1igG6mlF6DoRHWXusB1hxf6QsS7F-/s3264/IMG_5425.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzWozLEpA_EXjwU08TcFt57o_kq4oQpKow5GJlb9O5J_Ey9YOQHmsw310504I7TqrGwNDo_kARNOkqMNP5YVK7qSn3gKOaYPZGqGXahCcgx2X6EZeivEfUCY_EaSlP4cZrz2bJ5kTvpdEMcrSRESjRWrFVitA1igG6mlF6DoRHWXusB1hxf6QsS7F-/w150-h200/IMG_5425.JPG" /></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_AJqKfhphuS4J6RXZOfisWODkQ_ei7AaRJnSBqwttD-zLS6MmrFbGlG8PcIL5etS5Ksm7nfrXABPq5BEp7eZOKiibgl2OirKwPH6HFvKK4HO5JbLZgne0Z1-aAuafm9h9ZFeDRlAXgY0qwwm8z8uRh40rkTO0rDvTus--aB1Ehr4U-77Bz33emIF2/s3264/IMG_5430.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_AJqKfhphuS4J6RXZOfisWODkQ_ei7AaRJnSBqwttD-zLS6MmrFbGlG8PcIL5etS5Ksm7nfrXABPq5BEp7eZOKiibgl2OirKwPH6HFvKK4HO5JbLZgne0Z1-aAuafm9h9ZFeDRlAXgY0qwwm8z8uRh40rkTO0rDvTus--aB1Ehr4U-77Bz33emIF2/w150-h200/IMG_5430.JPG" /></a>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Vehicle Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">About the only thing Hasbro's attempts at Airachnid got <i>right</i> was the appearance of her helicopter alternate mode. <i>This </i>figure was clearly designed with the <i>robot </i>as the priority, so it takes <i>a lot</i> of liberties and delivers a vehicle mode that is rather <i>chubby</i>, like a robotic ryukin goldfish with rotor blades instead of fins, and a stealth paintjob. Everything at cockpit level and above looks fine, <i>albeit perhaps a little squashed</i>. <i>Below that</i>, however, it's <i>a bulbous mess that still leaves most of the robot mode in full view on the underside</i>. I'd hardly expect landing gear (<i>or skids</i>) from a toy this size, but the fact that vehicle mode <i>requires </i>the use of a display stand, <i>yet has no dedicated port for one</i>, is nevertheless quite disappointing. That said, it's not as if Hasbro's version had <i>any </i>form of landing apparatus, and <i>both </i>leave parts of the robot's body visible on the underside.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Obviously this doesn't fit the configuration of <i>any </i>existing helicopter but then, <i>in the TV show</i>, Airachnid's terrestrial vehicle mode <i>doesn't even match the type of helicopter she scanned</i>, which is <i>still </i>one of the biggest <i>liberties</i> TransFormers Prime took with the way Cybertronians adopt terrestrial disguises. The fact that she doesn't have a tail rotor is consistent with the CGI so, technically, there's no way this helicopter should be able to fly. Exacerbating this, the tail looks too <i>short </i>for the size of the main body, and her feet aren't even <i>remotely </i>disguised, right at the back. The extra fins poking out of the tail and coming off the main body look a little <i>unnecessary</i>, and the lack of any particular <i>detail </i>on the main rotor section is disappointing... though this is at least <i>somewhat</i> consistent with the whole 'stealth' motif of the CGI vehicle.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Also in keeping with that idea is the minimal paint job for vehicle mode, with most of the shell cast in black plastic. Going by the photos on the instructions, the cockpit section was possibly intended to be molded in <i>translucent </i>plastic, but the final model appears to be completely <i>opaque</i>, with the canopy windows <i>painted in</i> using a matte purple. Either side of the cockpit are three inset stripes of metallic pink, and the claw-like tips of the rotor blades are painted the same shade of purple as her feet, and one of them is a little <i>blobby </i>on mine.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Possibly the <i>most </i>disappointing aspect of this helicopter form - <i>aside from its complete lack of fidelity to the show model</i> - is that the rotors don't spin very well, barely getting a <i>couple </i>of revolutions before grinding to a halt due to friction. The fact that the blades are articulated <i>also</i> causes a few issues, since they don't straighten out <i>consistently</i>. On the upside, when they're pegged in at the hub, they <i>stay </i>connected very well... I just can't help but feel that <i>freely rotating rotor blades should be the absolute minimum requirement for any helicopter toy</i> and, comparatively cheap though this may have been, <i>I expect better from a Third Party effort</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Another disappointment, I suppose, is the lack of weapon accessories, <i>even if only for this vehicle mode</i>. It's <i>already</i> inaccurate to the CGI, and there are a couple of obvious weapon <i>ports</i>, directly below the rotors' hub on either side which, <i>as far as I can tell</i>, go completely unused in <i>any</i> mode. Given that this is a representation of the sinister Decepticon <i>hunter</i>, one would tend to expect her to be able to deploy <i>some </i>kind of weapons in her vehicle mode. Either that, or there are plans afoot to rework this into a <i>literal </i>robot fish, and the proposed <i>fins </i>will be going into those ports. <i>Out of curiosity</i>, I fished out my Hasbro Airachnid figure, to see if her weapons were compatible but, <i>naturally</i>, they use 5mm pegs/ports, and <i>these </i>appear to be 3mm. The weapon from the <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/transformers-prime-beast-hunters-jet.html" target="_blank"><i>Cyberverse</i> Jet Vehicon</a> certainly fits (<i>after an initial struggle</i>), but it then becomes more apparent than these ports are an a weird angle, so anything plugged in points slightly <i>outward </i>rather than directly forward. <i>Better </i>results can be achieved by using the ports <i>directly below</i> the rotor blades, but that just makes the 'spare' ports all the more baffling: <i>they must be there for a reason, surely</i>?</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Robot Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Let's face it, it wasn't <i>just </i>Gina Torres' voice that made Airachnid such an <i>alluring </i>villain - far more of a <i>true </i>Femme Fatale than Blackarachnia simply because she was so wilfully (<i>not to say 'gleefully'</i>) evil. The design was deliberately slinky, overtly feminine, <i>and apparently took some design cues from Disney's Maleficent</i>. Hasbro's attempt at turning that into a Deluxe class toy was <i>a failure on pretty much every level</i>, so was a pleasant surprise that APC Toys took such a <i>different </i>approach to Airachnid compared to their previous <i>TransFormers Prime</i> figures. Where <i>previous </i>releases have been recreations of the original toys, some <i>marginally </i>upscaled and always with at least <i>some </i>improvements to the paintwork, Night Countess is, <i>as previously mentioned</i>, wholly their own take on the character, <i>distinct and unique</i>, but that its design and engineering are based on a 3D printed, fan-made custom figure which made its online debut <i>about six years ago</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Night Countess' build in robot mode is <i>appropriately slinky, but also somewhat exaggerated</i>. The legs, <i>in and of themselves</i>, are the perfect fit for her height, and the helicopter tail makes for a decent heel spur on her <i>claw-like, alien stiletto heels</i>, but the hips seem <i>enormous </i>compared to her slender waist and slight bust, and the curve of her upper body is so pronounced, <i>and the rotor section so high up on her back</i>, that she can end up looking almost <i>hunch-backed</i> from the sides. The arms are perhaps a little <i>too </i>slender, particularly down at the forearm and the hands, but their minimal bulk is supplemented by the armour panels attached both to the forearms <i>and </i>the shoulders. It's these <i>latter </i>that are a bone of contention for me, because the CGI in the TV show clearly implies that <i>Airachnid's shoulder armour is formed from the side windows of her cockpit canopy</i>. Obviously, those are far <i>too </i>small on this figure, and the arms transform out of the <i>bottom </i>of the nose and sides of the cockpit area... But it just goes to show that <i>perhaps there are still better ways to make an Airachnid toy, yet to be properly explored</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The sculpt of the body is quite impressive in its detailing considering it's based on the fairly bland and simplistic <i>TFPrime</i> art style. Where a lot of Third Party Femme-Bots seem to <i>crank up</i> the robo-boobage, Night Countess takes a far more <i>modest </i>approach. In terms of shape, it adds a few more angles than the comparatively flat-chested CGI (<i>quite sensible, actually - boob armour is just asking for trouble</i>), giving a more humanoid <i>almost-curve</i> to the underboob. The sternum area is rather more deeply inset compared to the CGI, <i>giving a somewhat exaggerated cleavage</i>, and it's painted with a dark purple. The collar area is nicely detailed, with a touch of silver on the rim at the front, but the back section of the raised collar suddenly becomes <i>unpainted purple plastic</i>, because it's molded as part of the same section as the neck. The waist is nicely detailed, <i>with a subtle curve to the belly</i>, but the whole block is painted purple, but the CGI's pink highlights just below the chest have not been painted in. Her pelvis is <i>almost nothing like</i> that of the animation model, but it seems as though the designer <i>tried </i>to cram in details from over the hips (<i>pretty much where the 'skirt' hinges are</i>) onto the <i>front </i>of the pelvis. It has the right sort of layered armour look, but it curves back <i>around </i>the waist more, and the main, central panel bends <i>backward</i>, where the CGI has it either bending slightly <i>forward</i>, or simply hanging straight <i>down</i>. It features some gunmetal paint on the <i>inset </i>details on either side, with some thin pink 'glow' applied to the top of the central section and over the hips. Her legs carry on the tradition set by the upper body, being angular, but with more <i>changes </i>in angle to give a <i>softer, rounder </i>appearance. In particular, either the <i>inner </i>thighs are larger and rounder, or it's just that the black <i>outer </i>panels don't extend quite so far round the <i>front </i>of the thigh. The gold kneecaps are present, <i>but less elaborate</i>, and have been used to emphasise the <i>curve </i>of her legs, <i>pushing the shin further back from the knee itself</i>. Her slender arms are <i>mostly </i>quite accurate to the CGI <i>up to the shoulder joint</i>, which is much simplified, and only features a band of gold paint around the front, with the shoulder mass <i>itself </i>left as unpainted purple plastic. Her ridged forearms correctly feature gold paint on the <i>cuffs</i>, but the hands are entirely unpainted, where she <i>should</i> have the effect of <i>black, fingerless gloves with gold knuckles</i>. Given the small size of the parts, the omission here is at least <i>somewhat </i>understandable.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As mentioned above, Night Countess doesn't come with weapon accessories, <i>as such</i>, but her rotor blades <i>reconfigure </i>into the three additional 'stinger' legs of her <i>default </i>form, and the <i>six </i>legs of her predator mode are provided as a pair of additional attachments, to make her appear all the more dangerous. The articulation of either set isn't exactly <i>optimal</i>, however, and the rotor blade legs are <i>especially </i>awkward as there's no way to stop them rotating - <i>their own weight will cause them to drift out of whatever position they're set into</i>. The predator legs are a bit <i>longer</i>, but the weird jointing makes posing them <i>effectively </i>a bit of a chore. I feel it's a bit of a shame that she wasn't given at least <i>one </i>of the Cybertronian artifacts/weapons from the TV show, or perhaps an alternate head sculpt or two (<i>perhaps one featuring the telescopic inner 'vampire' jaw</i>) to add a little more to the package. Then again, her hands are in a fixed, open pose with no grip or attachment ports/pegs, so there aren't exactly a lot of options for <i>mounting </i>traditional weapons.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">On the subject of her head sculpt, while it's not <i>entirely </i>faithful to the CGI, <i>it is phenomenally good</i>. The wider-eyed look isn't quite so <i>threatening </i>as it could be, though it could perhaps be perceived as <i>eager</i>, and the bobbly detailing seems a little <i>unnecessary</i>, but the painted linework does a decent job of framing her eyes and the overall sculpt is pretty good. The mouth isn't <i>great</i> - hovering somewhere between a soft, slightly open smile and a pout - but, on that score, <i>the original CGI didn't exactly give the figure's designer much to work with</i>. Paintwork is <i>largely </i>excellent - sharp edges and fine details, though the gold trim on her <i>cheeks </i>doesn't appear to be quite so bold as it should be, and the brows aren't arranged in quite the same way as on the CGI. The central crest features the gold 'jewel' in the centre of her forehead and a band of gold running back over her crown. The face is painted gunmetal, with the lips <i>seemingly </i>painted with the same dark purple as the 'cleavage' on her chest - <i>the only other use of that paint colour on the whole figure</i>. About my only <i>complaint </i>would be that the secondary horns on the back of her head only have the required coating of gold paint on the <i>front </i>section of the head - the unpainted tips are on the <i>back </i>section, which has no paint at all. It's understandable, <i>given the construction of the head</i>, but it's nevertheless disappointing that the gold paint ends so early and abruptly.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Predator Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I've left this till last because, <i>personally</i>, I find it to be the <i>least </i>appealing aspect of the figure, in-hand. Don't get me wrong: I'm glad that <i>a way</i> was found to give an
<i>approximately </i>Deluxe class Airachnid her full predator mode, but the way it
was achieved <i>on the original fan-made custom</i> left something to be desired, and APC toys' production run version is <i>still </i>lacking something... Frankly,<i> I hate to admit it since it's fairly contentious</i>, but
that something is probably <i>ball joints</i>.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I <i>also </i>have to admit that, <i>initially</i>, I had trouble getting the legs to work <i>at
all</i>... The instructions <i>imply </i>that one should simply plug the legs into the
available ports on Night Countess's back, <i>with only the legs transformed</i>.
However, they don't peg in particularly well and, <i>being connected at that angle</i>, their articulation becomes exceptionally <i>unhelpful</i>. However, this changes when you flip up the side panels of the rotor section and expose the <i>insides </i>of the ports: the legs peg in more <i>firmly</i>, and they end up virtually <i>perpendicular </i>to the ground, allowing the legs to move <i>in as natural a fashion as their hinges allow</i>. The hinges <i>themselves </i>are fairly stiff and well able to support the figure's minimal weight, but the plastic of the <i>final </i>segment of each leg - <i>the longest part</i> - is so thin, she's very much inclined to <i>wobble</i>, and I'm concerned that one of more of the legs may break if she were to, <i>for example</i>, fall of a shelf in predator mode.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The most significant problems for the main figure in this mode are that the armour on her shoulders (<i>or, more specifically, the pegs on the tips</i>) <i>seriously </i>inhibits her arm movement with her body at this angle, and <i>none </i>of the 'abdomen' section pegs together in any specific arrangement. It is <i>possible </i>to use the pegs on the tail, <i>as with vehicle mode</i>, but the legs <i>themselves</i> and the side skirts effectively remain loose, <i>and all to easy to knock out of position when posing</i>. The arms are the bigger problem, as the vehicle shell sits <i>over </i>the shoulder ball joint and, <i>even without the extra tab on the tips</i>, they would clash with the back of her torso as they're lifted up/forward, <i>which generally results in the shoulders coming unpegged from the torso</i>.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">This figure has a <i>fairly </i>neat, elegant transformation, <i>with a few caveats</i>. Certain aspects - <i>like the shoulders in robot mode, or the sides of the nose in vehicle mode</i> - don't tab together especially well. The <i>former </i>are prone to popping out while trying to pose the arms, while the <i>latter </i>sometimes just <i>refuse </i>to tab in securely on one side, <i>though that's possibly because the arm or hand on that side isn't perfectly arranged</i>. The arms themselves make use of a double joint - <i>the ball-jointed elbow plus a hinge at the end of the forearm</i> - to compress down, and then swing back and forth for transformation on (<i>somewhat loose</i>) angled mushroom pegs. The upper torso twist, where it rotates on a ball joint and hinges back almost 180°, <i>so that her head ends up tucked in behind her waist</i>, is quite clever, but it ends up leaving her waist looking <i>hollow </i>from the sides. The legs really don't do much between robot and helicopter mode: the calves peg into tabs on either side of a protrusion from the back of the <i>engine</i>, and the two halves of the <i>tail </i>peg together. In predator mode, they <i>shorten </i>slightly by shifting the feet and calves up on a hinged internal joint, but then the only real <i>connection </i>point is between the two halves of the helicopter's tail fin, <i>while the 'skirts' simply fold in wherever they can and remain loose</i>. The upper body is left <i>largely </i>unchanged, though obviously the head needs to tilt <i>back </i>so it remains facing forward after the change in her body's orientation. The instructions aren't <i>entirely </i>clear on how to <i>attach</i> the legs, but the <i>intention </i>seems to be that they peg into the sides of Airachnid's backpack. This <i>just about</i> works, but the pegs aren't quite <i>long </i>enough to make a firm connection, and it leaves the legs at an extremely <i>strange </i>angle that, <i>for me</i>, led to problems getting her to stand at all, <i>regardless of what I tried to do with the legs</i>. A <i>better </i>result can be achieved by folding up the side panels of the engine section, and plugging the supplementary legs into their <i>inner </i>face. It means Airachnid is hanging <i>lower</i>, but I honestly think it looks truer to the show model.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">While Night Countess is undoubtedly better articulated than Hasbro's <i>abysmal </i>effort, she's far from what I'd consider to be <i>ideal </i>for a figure released in 2022. The main seven joints - <i>neck, shoulders, elbows, and hips</i> - are all ball joints. This isn't necessarily bad <i>in and of itself</i> and it still tends to be the best solution for the <i>neck</i>... However, <i>in this day and age, and particularly on a Third Party figure</i>, it feels like an outdated shortcut when it comes to the limbs. Given the size of the shoulders and elbows, <i>those </i>choices are understandable, and the hips are at least <i>supplemented </i>by an upper thigh swivel joint. Ultimately, we get a head with a <i>fairly </i>expressive range of tilt, shoulders that, <i>in theory</i>, should be able to rotate a full 360°, but soon clash with the backpack, and which can raise <i>out to the sides</i> by about 30°, but end up unpegging before they're moved very far. The ball-jointed elbows double as the bicep swivel, and can bend a little <i>over </i>90° before needing the transformation hinge to supplement their range. The wrists are <i>also </i>on ball joints, but they were so <i>stiff</i>, I had to unscrew the forearm to make sure before I tried moving them. They only really allow the hands to <i>rotate</i>, and I <i>still </i>worry that the hands will <i>shear off</i> if I try to move them too much. She has no <i>waist </i>joint, but the mid-torso transformation joints can be used to turn and tilt the chest, <i>thus breaking what little continuity her body shell actually has</i>. The hips can travel through about 180° forward-to-back, <i>favouring the backward swing</i> due to the shape of the upper thigh. Her knees only really bend through the regulation 90°, but the curve of the leg makes it <i>look </i>a little more. Her feet are <i>basically immobile</i>, but the heel is hinged and, <i>small though her footprint is</i>, it's reasonably easy to get her in a stable pose... it's just never particularly <i>dynamic</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In predator mode, the jointing of her legs is certainly <i>not </i>conducive to particularly dynamic posing,<i> and even getting her balanced on all six knifepoint feet can be tricky</i> - the legs <i>themselves </i>are quite wobbly, and it takes a lot of fine tuning to find her centre of gravity. While it's <i>possible </i>to adjust her pose by rotating the legs at their connection pegs into the body, the <i>firmest </i>method of connecting them leaves her hanging perilously <i>low</i>. The first joint on each leg swings it forward or backward <i>only</i>, then there are two joints on which each leg can bend... but the <i>balance</i> of segment length <i>between </i>each joint is off - <i>possibly for structural reasons</i> - and the final segment - <i>the longest part</i> - is the one that lifts her the most. Just <i>one </i>more joint, <i>in about the middle of the longest segment</i>, might have made a difference... but the animation model has the first two segments <i>longer</i> and <i>straighter</i>, with the first angling up more steeply from the body to start things off. Whenever I <i>tried </i>pegging the legs into the engine section while still folded down, <i>something </i>about the angle of attachment seemed to make it almost impossible to arrange <i>all six</i> legs flat on the ground, <i>let alone in any kind of walking pose</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">For a Third Party figure costing a <i>comparatively paltry</i> £50 at her initial release, Night Countess is <i>mostly </i>satisfying... Not <i>great </i>but, as a full production figure based upon <i>a fan-made, 3D printed design created about seven years ago</i>, it's turned out very well. While the figure is <i>incredibly light</i> in-hand, <i>most </i>of it feels quite sturdy... though I'd rather no drop her, as I suspect the rotor blades and predator legs - <i>flexible as they may be</i> - won't stand up to <i>much </i>punishment. Considering the official Deluxe class Airachnid from Hasbro was <i>undersized, simplistic and poorly articulated</i>, yet would have cost £18-20 at the time, I certainly feel that Night Countess is worth the <i>additional</i> £30, even if she is in no way equivalent to a contemporary Leader class toy... Robot mode looks <i>fantastic</i> and, considering APC Toys' <i>other </i>releases are barely upgraded from the original Hasbro molds (<i>albeit already the superior First Edition molds, where available</i>), she's a far more worthwhile addition to a <i>TF Prime</i> collection than either the Deluxe class toy <i>or the smaller, simpler, yet somehow vastly better Cyberverse toy</i>. The lack of weapon accessories is a shame but, <i>to be fair</i>, she seemed to be more of a hands-on fighter most of the time. Sure, her vehicle mode is a bit of a joke, <i>but it's not as if Hasbro are going to do better anytime soon</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And, <i>yes</i>, that's a direct challenge to Hasbro's <i>TransFormers Legacy</i> team: make a <i>Legacy </i>version of Airachnid, but make her <i>good</i>. I suspect she'd have to be <i>so far removed</i> from her appearance in <i>TF Prime</i> as to be effectively a completely different character. But that would hardly be anything <i>new</i>, would it?</div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-29399504357247614592023-03-03T22:16:00.004+00:002023-03-03T22:16:33.809+00:00Human Alliance Barricade & Frenzy<div style="text-align: left;">Here's <i>another </i>fine example of me forgetting about a perfectly good toy for <i>far too long</i>... So long, in fact, that I acquired <i>and wrote about</i> the <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2019/08/masterpiece-movie-series-mpm-5-barricade.html" target="_blank"><i>Masterpiece </i>version</a> of the figure more than three years ago, <i>and that was ten years after this toy was released</i>! Worse still, this blog was <i>already </i>in full swing when this toy came out, so I really have no excuses... I wish I knew <i>why </i>I neglected the last three <i>Human Alliance</i> figures in my collection... But, other than the blog getting off to a very <i>slow </i>start, I can't imagine what stopped me.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But let's not <i>dwell </i>on old mistakes and, instead, enjoy the process of <i>revisiting </i>a toy that had been stuck in storage for far too long. I was a <i>massive </i>fan of the <i>Human Alliance</i> concept... still am, in fact, and it's something I <i>hope </i>Hasbro will eventually revisit at some point in the future. Barricade was, <i>in my opinion</i>, one of the most interesting aspects of the first live action movie, being a Decepticon who transformed into a vehicle which, <i>in an ideal world</i>, is intended to <i>reassure </i>people, make them feel safe and protected. Barricade is, of course, the <i>antithesis </i>of that idea... but I don't think they really played into it as much as they could have, and then he <i>disappeared </i>until the third film, then <i>again </i>until <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-last-knightpremier-edition-barricade.html" target="_blank">his refit in the fifth</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/transformers-movie-barricade.html" target="_blank">The original Deluxe class toy</a> was very much a product of its time, with all the <i>shortcomings </i>that implies. Let's see how this version of Barricade fares, being not only a product of a different <i>time</i>, but a different and much more advanced <i>toyline</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span><a name='more'></a></span><b><u>Vehicle Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><i>On the surfac</i>e, there's really not much to differentiate between <i>this </i>toy and the original Deluxe class toy from the 2007 movie... Both are accurately-reproduced and fully-licensed Saleen S281 Police Cruisers, a vehicle which is itself a customised 2004 Ford Mustang GT. Both are molded largely in black plastic, as one would expect, with clear, colourless plastic for the windows and white painted doors. Much the same police decals and paint applications are present, though this version has a few more. Both toys are even <i>fairly </i>similar in size, which seems miraculous given the increased size of this one's robot mode. The most significant difference, obviously, is the raison d'être of the <i>Human Alliance</i> line - a reasonably accurately-modelled interior (<i>in front, at least</i>) with space to seat the included non-transforming (<i>unless you count his 'storage' form</i>) Frenzy figure.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So, the <i>smaller </i>differences are key here. <i>HA </i>Barricade features the number '643' tampographed on the front <i>and </i>rear bumpers, where it only features on the <i>front </i>bumper of the Deluxe. Where the Deluxe has a blob of silver paint on the <i>outside </i>of the transparent headlight shells, this one has silver paint <i>on the sculpted headlight detail behind the shell</i>. The Decepticon police badges on either side are larger and more extensively detailed here, the 'POLICE' label on each door has a much <i>bolder </i>black outline, and the indicator lights on the <i>rear </i>wings are painted in, though the additional '643' just behind the bottom corner of the door <i>and </i>the 'EMERGENCY 911 RESPONSE' decals are <i>still </i>absent here, <i>despite more space being available for them</i>. At the back, <i>this </i>version has its numberplate painted in but, rather than <i>accurately reproducing</i> the movie vehicle's numberplate, this one has a little joke: '2PN-SLV', referring to the phrase <i>"to punish and enslave"</i>, written above both of the rear wheels. On the spoiler, the word 'POLICE' is stamped <i>the opposite way round</i> to the '643' on his roof, and the lightbar is <i>somewhat </i>more intricately detailed, with <i>darker </i>red and blue translucent paint over the extremities, and <i>opaque silver </i>paint on the central section. I'm not entirely sure the shape and style are <i>entirely </i>screen-accurate, but it does the job. This version of the Saleen patrol car also has what <i>appears </i>to be a protruding petrol cap in grey plastic... which is actually a <i>button </i>to activate a play feature <i>not available</i> in vehicle mode.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Inside </i>the car, the dashboard details are somewhat perfunctory - <i>just a few dials behind the pinned, turnable steering wheel, what appears to be a glovebox on the passenger side</i> - and the seats are <i>fairly </i>plain but, compared to other <i>HA </i>figures, the interior is otherwise very <i>clean</i>, with no obvious signs of robot parts like <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2022/05/human-alliance-mudflap-chromia.html" target="_blank">Mudflap</a>'s Gatling gun, <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/revenge-of-fallen-human-alliance.html" target="_blank">Bumblebee</a>'s hands, <i>or <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/human-alliance-sideswipe.html" target="_blank">Sideswipe</a>'s whole spine</i>. You can just about see the <i>tips </i>of Barricade's head sticking out through a convenient slot below the dashboard, but even <i>that </i>is done in such a way that it <i>could </i>be mistaken for a <i>mounting clip</i> for police equipment, such as a radio, computer, or gun.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Barricade is <i>also </i>notable for being about the only <i>Human Alliance</i> figure that can <i>effectively </i>deploy his weapons in vehicle mode, <i>possibly</i> in reference to the extending headlights/blades used very briefly, just before he transforms in front of Sam in the first movie. What you get <i>here</i>, though, are a couple of blasters on hinged arms. These are <i>mainly </i>intended for a particular feature of robot mode but, <i>personally</i>, I think they look far more sensible in vehicle mode.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Overall</i>, considering this came out <i>nine years</i> before the <i>Masterpiece </i>figure (<i>though only eight years before the first dedicated Masterpiece Movie figure</i>), <i>this </i>was a masterpiece <i>in its own right</i> and, already owning this, I <i>almost </i>didn't see a point to making the 'upgrade'. Even today, vehicle mode looks <i>fantastic</i>, and the play value of being able to seat the included Frenzy figure <i>inside </i>Barricade cannot be overstated... Though Frenzy is perhaps a touch <i>oversized</i>, being precisely the same height as the <i>human </i>action figures supplied with other <i>HA </i>toys.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Robot Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">While his vehicle mode might rival the <i>Masterpiece </i>version of Barricade, the <i>Human Alliance</i> toy's robot mode, admittedly, has its fair share of <i>shortcomings</i>... Though, given there were <i>nine years</i> between the two figures, and their <i>overall </i>similarity, he still holds up well today and, to be completely fair, <i>several </i>of the <i>HA </i>toys had issues in their robot modes.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The main issue <i>here</i>, compared to both the original Deluxe class toy and the later <i>Masterpiece</i>, is that <i>HA </i>Barricade's proportions are <i>all over the place</i>. His legs and arms are slim and gangly, over-long <i>and made with far too much grey plastic</i>. That this grey plastic has a slight <i>brownish </i>tinge doesn't help, either. The arms possibly wouldn't look <i>so </i>bad if they weren't <i>sticking out from the body on almost 1/4" of extended shoulder</i>. It's <i>far </i>more clearance than the arms <i>need</i>, and ends up making his chest look undersized, <i>despite its bulk versus the lower bod</i>y. As long as the bumper is properly angled, the chest-to-waist-to-leg transition doesn't look <i>too </i>extreme, but those arms still look as though they come from a <i>larger-format</i> figure.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The sculpted detail on the upper arms is remarkably good considering how little <i>depth </i>of plastic was available - the entire bicep area makes up the base of the car <i>below the car mode's seats</i>, with even more (<i>somewhat waffled</i>) detail sculpted onto the <i>backs </i>of those seats so that the figure even looks <i>quite </i>good from behind. The details on the insides of the front wheel is similarly <i>fairly </i>detailed considering the small area available, though the additional mass of the car shell left <i>attached </i>to it makes it look much more bulky, and reduces the impact of what little detailing is there. The legs are a bit <i>odd</i>, in that the <i>thighs</i> are small and quite heavily detailed, but then the <i>lower </i>legs are a lot longer than they should be, with substantially <i>less </i>intricacy in the sculpt, <i>possibly </i>due to the way they transform. The flaps on the thighs are larger <i>and squarer</i> than those of the <i>MPM </i>figure, but at least they're <i>present</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">On first impressions, the robot's paintwork is rather disappointing - <i>possibly a side-effect of the extensive coatings of white paint on the car's doors</i>. The upper arms, legs <i>and </i>pelvis are largely made up of the darker, <i>brownish-grey</i> plastic and mostly unpainted. There are applications of pale metallic purple on the biceps and over the <i>front </i>of the pelvis, with smaller touches on the <i>sides </i>of the thighs and the <i>outer </i>corner of the lower sections of the <i>lower </i>legs. Silver paint has been applied to the fronts of the <i>thighs</i>, but that's the last of the paintwork this figure has. One thing to note is that a lot of fans complained about the use of metallic <i>blue </i>paint on the <i>MPM </i>figure, claiming that the CGI indicated that <i>purple </i>was the appropriate choice. <i>I'm honestly not sure that's the case, or if it's more the case that Michael Bay's distinctive visual style distorted the colour</i>. Depending on the images you might view, there are <i>suggestions </i>that the colour should have been a <i>super-dark blue</i>, but that the <i>pearlescent </i>quality of the vehicle paint <i>may </i>have made it appear warmer - <i>more purple</i> - in certain conditions. Regardless of which colour is correct (<i>and, given this is a police vehicle, blue would seem more likely than purple</i>), the shade used here is far too <i>pale</i>... but I wouldn't want to complain <i>too </i>much, given the overall <i>dearth </i>of paint applications for robot mode.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Barricade's <i>main </i>gimmick is that one wheel can spring out of its mounting on his forearm, <i>at the push of the petrol cap</i>, allowing the blades to be extended from it. This spiked wheel can now spin freely, but its <i>effectiveness </i>is reduced by the fact that simply <i>handling </i>it will normally cause some of the blades to move out of position, <i>because they don't lock in place</i>. It almost feels as though it should have been set up so that deploying the wheelspike weapon automatically <i>spins </i>the wheel but, since the spikes have to be <i>manually </i>extended, that wouldn't really have been practical without <i>extensive </i>additions to the engineering of the gimmick. This <i>also </i>means that the <i>Human Alliance</i> toy only has <i>one </i>hand, because <i>there's nothing else at the end of his arm with this weapon stowed</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In terms of interacting with Frenzy, the smaller figure can be folded up and fitted <i>back </i>into the engine block cavity, with his arms left extended out to <i>just-about grasp</i> the handles on the two blasters which fold out from below the front of the vehicle. <i>Alternatively</i>, by transforming Barricade's right arm into <i>very nearly</i> its vehicle mode configuration, <i>then folding out the dinky triple-barrelled blaster on the inner face</i>, Frenzy can be perched in the seat as its <i>ostensible </i>operator... though the seat is <i>much too far back</i> for that to look even <i>remotely </i>convincing. There are <i>also </i>pegs for Frenzy's feet in Barricade's backpack but, where other figures actually have<i> shoulder-mounted weapons</i> for their drivers to operate, Barricade has none. <i>Finally</i>, a peg in the palm of Barricade's hand is <i>probably </i>intended for use with the actual <i>human </i>figures, so that he can grip them via the port on their backs. It's possible to do that with Frenzy as well, <i>but it wouldn't make as much sense</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Probably the most surprising thing about comparing this toy with the <i>Masterpiece </i>is how different the head sculpts are. <i>In theory</i>, the same <i>reference </i>was used - after all, this figure came came out <i>two years after </i>the movie was released, and the <i>MPM </i>came out <i>nine years after that</i>, so they're <i>both </i>more accurate than the Deluxe class toy, <i>yet still different</i>. Neither appear to be <i>entirely </i>correct in their paintwork - likely, <i>again</i>, because of Michael Bay's inimitable style and habit of boosting the saturation <i>and </i>contrast of the film. Consequently, while Barricade's head appears to be mostly made up of super-glossy <i>black </i>panels, with maybe some <i>dark gunmetal</i> parts, the <i>toys </i>have invariably used a mixture of gold and a rather <i>stark </i>silver. Of the two, I think the paintwork of the <i>HA </i>version is more accurate to the movie than the <i>Masterpiece</i>, if only because the Y-shaped crest on his forehead is painted silver, where the <i>MPM </i>had the 'monobrow' painted silver instead. <i>Both </i>have the majority of his 'mask' painted silver, though rather more silver has been used <i>here</i>, while the <i>MPM </i>extends its gold paint application out onto the cheeks, <i>and </i>adds silver on the chin. The overall head sculpt here seems <i>taller</i>, and he has additional spikes pointing down from his 'cheekbones'. One <i>intriguing </i>difference is in how the two figures achieve the head and jaw articulation. The <i>MPM </i>has a ball joint inside the back of the <i>head </i>and a hinged jaw. This one has a ball joint <i>extending down from the lower jaw part</i>, into a socket in the neck, and the <i>main </i>part of the head is hinged to allow it to <i>raise </i>away from the jaw. The eyes <i>are </i>light-piped, but it's clear, colourless plastic <i>overpainted on the front with translucent red paint,</i> so it's not as effective as it could have been.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">The funny thing about Barricade is that <i>every single version of him that I've owned has had an eerily similar transformation</i> - the legs and feet come out of the <i>back </i>of the vehicle, the arms come out of the <i>sides</i>, and the front compresses <i>back </i>and <i>down </i>to connect with the pelvis. The only <i>significant </i>differences are in the smaller details... which has been something of a common theme. Here, <i>for example</i>, the lower legs <i>bend back on themselves via a mid-shin hinge</i>, and the feet <i>rotate 180°</i> between vehicle and robot mode. Where the <i>MP </i>figure rotates the rear of the car <i>90°</i> then folds it <i>around </i>the calves, this one simply separates the <i>outer </i>part and swings it forward, round to the outside of the knees. The arms pull out from the sides of the vehicle, <i>as normal</i>, but then swing round on a hinge that lifts the shoulder joints <i>up </i>and <i>forward</i>, more or less in line with the neck. Similarly, the legs swing out from <i>below </i>the pelvis, <i>but only by about 45°</i>, which has a significant effect on his articulation. The arms <i>themselves </i>are largely identical to the <i>MP </i>version, but for a few absent parts - <i>such as the forearm gap fillers</i>. The car's front wings staying as a <i>single </i>part that doesn't bend <i>out </i>quite so much as they do on the <i>MP</i>, and the car's doors remain <i>whole </i>on the robot's arms, with two sections of the car's <i>bonnet </i>playing the role of the door sections popping up from behind Barricade's head, which then simply folds up from behind the dashboard. While the bonnet remains otherwise intact, <i>and thereby less accurate to the CGI</i>, the front bumper and bullbars reconfigure <i>slightly </i>so that at least <i>part </i>of the torso looks sort-of right. The roof of the vehicle does very little other than <i>getting out of the way of everything else</i> and tabbing <i>very </i>securely into the folded up legs for vehicle mode. Another little feature that's most easily accessible <i>during </i>transformation is that Frenzy can be folded up and stashed behind the grille. This is <i>essentially </i>the same arrangement as for his use of Barricade's guns in robot mode, <i>but with the arms folded back and tabbed into his feet</i>. One observation I have, <i>related </i>to his transformation, is that it would seem most <i>logical </i>to open the shins out to their <i>fullest </i>extent, <i>such that the lower half butts up against the black plastic section of the vehicle's rear that sits on his calves</i>... but Barricade's appearance in the movies suggests his legs are <i>almost</i> digitigrade. This look <i>can </i>be achieved but, while it helps makes his legs seem less <i>lanky</i>, it has little benefit to <i>posing</i>... <i>on which subject</i>...</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">I mentioned above that the transformation of Barricade's hips has an impact on his articulation... <i>and that's a bit of an understatement</i>. Whereas the Deluxe class toy has ball-jointed hips, this <i>and </i>the <i>Masterpiece </i>have separately hinged joints for forward/backward movement and outward swing. However, where the <i>MPM </i>figure has the hip joints set <i>perpendicular</i> to the thighs, <i>this one has them at about 45°</i>. The upshot is that bringing his legs <i>forward </i>turns the thigh <i>outward</i>, and swinging the legs <i>back </i>turns the thigh <i>inward</i>. There's a thigh rotation joint which counters this <i>to a degree</i> - with the assistance of an above-the-knee rotation joint - but it <i>still </i>looks awkward and unnatural. The weirdest thing is that I cannot see a <i>reason </i>for this arrangement of the hips. There could easily have been a cutaway in the <i>sides </i>of the pelvis to allow the hips to swing up into a more natural position <i>and to allow for more natural articulation</i>. It would <i>also </i>make his robot mode look slightly less <i>gangly </i>overall. The foot can <i>also </i>rotate <i>and </i>tilt up/down for transformation, which is helpful to ensure optimum balance, but the <i>design </i>of the feet is not conducive to a firm footprint, since there's a little nub on the <i>inside </i>of each foot, <i>just in front of the heel</i>, that makes it almost impossible to plant both feet firmly <i>unless the legs are as straight as they can effectively get</i>, and the fold-out 'toe' on the <i>opposite </i>side isn't especially helpful either. This is largely because standing 'straight' basically requires the knees to be bent to near enough <i>their fullest extent</i>, or he ends up looking knock-kneed. Barricade nevertheless has <i>reasonable </i>waist rotation - <i>about 45° in total, though I gather the joint can be modified to improve its range</i> - his arms swing a full 360° around the wide shoulders, and <i>almost </i>manage 90° out to the sides <i>as long as the shoulder flares are kept out of the way of his head</i>. The elbows bend to about 135° thanks to the placement of the joint, there's a 'bicep' rotation joint <i>just above</i> the elbow, and the right hand features hinges at the wrist and the knuckles, with an independent joint at the base of his thumb. Due to the gimmick, he doesn't <i>have </i>a left hand, which is a little disappointing. The head is on a ball joint, but it's curiously mounted - the socket is in the <i>neck </i>rather than the head, and the ball is connected to Barricade's <i>jaw </i>rather than the main part of the head, as mentioned above. Also worth mentioning that I took the <i>Masterpiece </i>figure off the shelf for a quick comparison while I was working on this post... <i>and his joints haven't lasted anywhere near as well as those on this toy</i>.</div>
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<b><u>Frenzy:</u></b>
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<div style="text-align: left;">The main advantage to Frenzy as a <i>Human Alliance</i> figure is that they were able to mold him entirely in soft grey plastic (<i>with a nice, vaguely metallic sheen</i>), and only needed to paint in the eyes... but, <i>as with the Deluxe class toy</i>, they got the colour wrong, since his eyes in the movie were <i>blue</i>, not red. Most of the other figures required <i>at least</i> two colours of plastic, <i>and </i>extensive paintwork... Of course, the lack of a human <i>face </i>means no need for <i>painted human facial details</i>, which tended to be one of the most disappointing - <i>not to say downright ugly</i> - aspects of the other <i>Human Alliance</i> driver figures.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In terms of sculpted detail, it's an improvement on the mini-figure packaged with the Deluxe class toy in pretty much <i>every </i>respect, but still quite sparse and simplistic due to the type of plastic used. The arms in particular are cleverly designed to incorporate the dual forearms - <i>one with guns, one with grasping hands to clip onto Barricade's steering wheel or the blasters that fold out from under the bumper</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Articulation is <i>also </i>great, with unrestricted rotation around the shoulder, pretty much a full 180° of lift out to the sides, as well as joints to tilt the head <i>and </i>chest back for transformation into his 'storage mode'. The hips can rotate a full 360° <i>and </i>swing through 180° front to back. The <i>knees </i>are fixed at a touch over 90° and there's obviously no tilt on the <i>feet</i>, but the digitigrade ankle joint can swing through at least 200°, again due to the necessities of his simple transformation. Assuming one can <i>align </i>both feet, getting him to stand, <i>even in a dynamic pose</i>, is rarely a problem.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Weirdly, I'd say the only <i>problem </i>with this figure is that <i>he's just too large</i> - basically the same height as any of the other <i>HA </i>drivers... That's obviously to be expected, and the whole <i>Human Alliance</i> concept just wouldn't have <i>worked </i>had Frenzy been made to scale with Barricade's vehicle mode. Other than that, I'd say <i>he's easily the best driver figure out of the whole line</i> - certainly the easiest to pose and stand unaided.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">When I wrote about <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/human-alliance-jazz.html" target="_blank"><i>HA</i> Jazz</a>, back in 2011, I was of the opinion that he was the best of the line but, <i>looking at Barricade now</i>, I'm very much inclined to reassess. The bottom line here is that, <i>even today, almost fifteen years after his release, and in spite of the avoidable shortcomings in his leg articulation</i>, <i>Human Alliance</i> Barricade is an <i>excellent </i>toy. I would go so far as to say that he, <i>more than any of the others</i>, perfectly embodies everything that was <i>great </i>about the very concept of the <i>Human Alliance</i> toyline. If it weren't for the weird 45° angle of his hips, he would certainly exceed the <i>Masterpiece </i>version in terms of playability. Sure, he could have done with <i>less </i>grey-brown plastic <i>and a hell of a lot more paintwork</i> but, as a mainstream toy, originally sold at a fraction of the cost of the <i>MPM </i>figure, he was certainly a worthy alternative. Of course, having been given a comparatively <i>limited </i>release, he tends to be pretty expensive these days, <i>and I gather there are a lot of knockoffs out there</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">While, <i>inevitably</i>, <i>HA </i>Bumblebee got <i>four </i>separate releases, Sideswipe <i>and even Skids</i> were deemed worthy of a single repaint each, but Barricade never was. His <i>only </i>other appearance was in an Asian-territory exclusive boxed set with the <i>Dark of the Moon/Human Alliance</i> Soundwave figure in 2014.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It's a real shame that the <i>Human Alliance</i> concept ended up getting <i>watered down</i>, leading to fewer <i>full-sized, movie character-based</i> figures and loads of <i>smaller, more generic and repaintable</i> figures in later waves. I think, these days, I might even be on board for more <i>G1</i>-based toys if Hasbro decided to make them <i>Human Alliance</i> - after all, it would be taking the toys full-circle, back to their days as <i>Diaclone </i>mech with little pilot figures... And, with the <i>G.I. Joe Collaborations</i> figures of Megatron and Bumblebee ending up so crappy, perhaps a smaller scale - <i>and a new, more experienced design team</i> - could make that crossover concept <i>work</i>.</div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-78279990380854998092023-02-28T22:28:00.003+00:002023-03-01T14:20:47.481+00:00Buzzworthy Bumblebee: Creatures Collide 4-pack<div style="text-align: left;">
By and large, the <i>Buzzworthy Bumblebee</i> line has been filled with
products I have been perfectly content to live <i>without</i>: regardless of
which line the toys are <i>derived</i> from, they have been mostly
<i>superfluous repaints</i>. When it comes to the boxed sets, there have been
far more <i>misses</i> than <i>hits</i>. When the <i>Worlds Collide</i> set
came along, I ended up buying the
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2021/10/buzzworthy-bumblebeeworlds-collide.html" target="_blank">Blackarachnia</a>
figure
<i>purely because she's a Femme-Bot and it was a decent reference to the
original Beast Wars toy's box art</i>, while the other figures were reportedly a <i>mess</i> of loose joints.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
This <i>second</i> 'Collides' set was, at first, <i>marginally</i> more
interesting. I wasn't <i>overly</i> fussed by the scarcity of the
<i>Netflix</i>-branded<i> Earthrise</i> Bumblebee toy because,
<i>having already bought
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2020/05/war-for-cybertron-earthrise-cliffjumper.html" target="_blank">Cliffjumper</a></i>, I knew it wouldn't be a patch on the <i>Classics</i> toy from 2006... But
<i>Goldbug</i> was another matter, because I'm quite fond of the <i>G1</i>
Throttlebot, and he's <i>sufficiently distinct</i> from Bumblebee. Similarly,
I'd passed on the TV show-inspired <i>Kingdom</i> Scorponok figure because I
was disappointed by the look of it but, now I own a reissue of the
<i>original</i> toy in <i>show-accurate</i> colours, a
<i>toy-coloured</i> repaint of the <i>Kingdom</i> figure was potentially a fun
<i>comparison</i>. Skywasp was a stupid/amazing pun,
<i>and so instantly interesting</i>, in spite of the new mold's obvious
<i>inferiority</i> to
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2014/11/generations-30th-anniversary-waspinator.html" target="_blank"><i>Generations</i> Waspinator</a>... Which left Ransack: a repaint of the <i>Legacy</i> Kickback figure that's
<i>barely</i> an improvement on the <i>G1</i> original, representing one of
the 'Deluxe Insecticons' which, <i>back in the day</i>, had a
<i>wholly unique</i> mold that was never made available in the UK.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
So, when presented with this set at a RRP of £93, I turned my nose up and
avoided it,
<i>even though that breaks down as four figures for slightly less than the
price of four individual Deluxes</i>. However, seeing it cut down to £45 at GAME, it seemed like a sweeter
deal... But let's see how I feel about it with the figures <i>in-hand</i>...
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span><a name='more'></a></span><b><u>Packaging:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Since this is the first time I've bought a <i>Buzzworthy Bumblebee</i> boxed
set, rather than just <i>one specific figure sold separately on eBay</i>, this is the first time I've
actually had a <i>Buzzworthy Bumblebee</i> box <i>in-hand</i>... and it's
actually pretty good. While this is technically a <i>Legacy</i> release, and
bears the <i>Legacy</i> branding, it's present in the <i>Buzzworthy</i> black
and yellow only, rather than as the <i>full-colour</i> logo used in the main
branch of the the line. The image on the front follows the pattern of
<i>Legacy</i>'s <i>heightened, oversaturated electric neons</i>, but it's framed by the
more plain, sober and angular <i>Buzzworthy</i> template which, somewhat bafflingly,
includes images wrapping around the lefthand side showing a <i>nonspecific</i> Arcee, <i>Siege/Earthrise</i> Mirage
and, I think, <i>Cyberverse</i> Optimus Prime. <i>Presumably</i> they're emphasising that <i>Buzzworthy</i> covers multiple continuities but, to my eyes, it just looks <i>inconsistent</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
While it is <i>nowhere near</i> as inconsistent and patchy as something like
the <i>Age of Extinction</i> packaging, the <i>contrast</i> between the
<i>Buzzworthy</i> colours and the <i>Legacy</i>-style illustration is quite
jarring, and I'm <i>constantly</i> frustrated by the excess of fonts in use.
Granted, the <i>Buzzworthy Bumblebee</i> branding is a logo in its own right,
derived from the style of the <i>Bumblebee</i> movie's logo, <i>Legacy</i>'s
branding is possibly my <i>least</i> favourite of all TransFormers toylines,
and the TransFormers logo itself is obviously a <i>necessity</i>, but the
addition of another font
<i>just for the name of the boxed set and its four individual figures</i>
seems rather unnecessary to me.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The <i>back</i> of the box features product shots of all four toys in their
robot and alternate modes, and the <i>top</i> of the box features hexagonal
<i>holes</i> and <i>headshots</i> over each of the figures,
<i>in lieu of the traditional plastic windows</i>, but this exposes the plain
cardboard backing the figures are tied to, <i>inside the box</i>, which makes
things look a bit <i>cheap</i>. There's also one feature of the set that, for
no obvious reason,
<i>goes completely unmentioned on the outer packaging</i>... but we'll get
onto <i>that</i> when dealing with the specific toys involved.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
As is often the case with these boxed sets, the instructions for each figure
are arranged on a single fold-out sheet, which is printed in black and orange.
My preference would have been for separate sheets... though that's
<i>possibly</i> only because it would facilitate
<i>offloading the figures I don't want via eBay</i>.
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWoDxDo4KCLXWNlqdOUT3yw6jnlAlfGM0tl2wmy7qP4mRtVQjquGvVlZ10voiHk1quWSAtRUriEZEqOwVk9l_-FG_fF6dw1V0EMVFWP1OzwnLJAiIw0vJ4y-vWpieTgvpHA6xapX8nhinH2LlzLiq-v7ZVleXQWz_E1JMTm2RXcXzS-j1Udd3Ym8K/s3264/IMG_5851.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWoDxDo4KCLXWNlqdOUT3yw6jnlAlfGM0tl2wmy7qP4mRtVQjquGvVlZ10voiHk1quWSAtRUriEZEqOwVk9l_-FG_fF6dw1V0EMVFWP1OzwnLJAiIw0vJ4y-vWpieTgvpHA6xapX8nhinH2LlzLiq-v7ZVleXQWz_E1JMTm2RXcXzS-j1Udd3Ym8K/w200-h150/IMG_5851.JPG" width="200" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95ZlVfMF_4mK90SFmageEKcVBcjr2JBBira723xqgksH-ER59iEkjKOdPT96UBEcYv9HSRV2mkgv46o3rql6kGewGaroIaF8u212EoGaGz8cZ4l1IvCTH8THhQ87tWpCXRrpMqRWth92ZkOs7rmJH3z-bCykZkP8w1bvs12CISCiUghE2V2mZAWx2/s3264/IMG_5852.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95ZlVfMF_4mK90SFmageEKcVBcjr2JBBira723xqgksH-ER59iEkjKOdPT96UBEcYv9HSRV2mkgv46o3rql6kGewGaroIaF8u212EoGaGz8cZ4l1IvCTH8THhQ87tWpCXRrpMqRWth92ZkOs7rmJH3z-bCykZkP8w1bvs12CISCiUghE2V2mZAWx2/w200-h150/IMG_5852.JPG" width="200" /></a>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Goldbug</b></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Vehicle Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Let's get this one out of the way first, mainly because it's the one I was
most interested in. I've been saying for some time (<i>at least since I picked up
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2020/06/studio-series-57-offroad-bumblebee.html" target="_blank">Studio Series Offroad Bumblebee</a></i>) that I had no intention of picking up <i>any
</i> more Bumblebee figures unless they were <i>significantly</i> different from - <i>and
ideally improving upon</i> - those I already own. Probably the only reason I felt
as though I wanted a Goldbug figure was that I liked the <i>idea</i> of Goldbug:
Bumblebee, rebuilt <i>both physically and psychologically</i>, such that he's
stronger <i>and</i> more confident. I suspect that may have <i>resonated</i> with 13-year-old me, back in 1987.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">This toy is essentially <i>Earthrise</i> Cliffjumper's engineering rolled into the <i>licensed</i> VW Beetle shell, and it works precisely as well as you might expect. I <i>liked</i> Cliffjumper, because that was the first time in years that
the character (<i>my first ever TransFormers toy</i>) was sold as an ostensibly <i>unique</i> mold, rather than simply as a Bumblebee repaint... pretty much
since <i>Generation 1</i>, in fact (<i>unless you count the Energon toy,
which was clearly closer to being Beachcomber, and later repainted as such</i>). However, rather than just being dull <i>yellow</i> plastic, Goldbug has a glossy gold-<i>ish</i> coating (<i>on most of his parts, at least - more on that later</i>) over the shell of the car.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Considering the <i>original</i> Goldbug used quite a <i>cold</i>, shimmering 'gold' plastic, and the unpainted plastic here is quite warm, and very much more what I imagine when I think of <i>gold</i> plastic, I'm surprised they bothered painting <i>any</i> of the car shell... but I guess that it <i>was</i> needed for the translucent plastic parts. That said, all things considered, Hasbro were surprisingly <i>sparing</i> with this mold. The majority of the roof is <i>a separate piece of opaque, painted plastic</i>, so it's only really the window <i>frames</i> that have been painted in.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The windows are a very dark, smoky translucent grey, almost to the point where they needn't have <i>bothered</i> with translucent plastic at all... but then, these days, I'm starting to think Hasbro should just stop using translucent plastic <i>entirely</i>. The bumpers are separate pieces of unpainted grey - <i>alarmingly rubbery</i> - plastic, and the wheels, <i>naturally</i>, are black plastic with the VW-branded hubcaps painted silver. The headlights are also painted silver but, other than the gold-ish paint <i>required</i> to cover the translucent plastic parts, <i>that's the entirety of the paint job</i>. The indicators - front <i>and</i> back, lamps <i>and</i> frames - are completely unpainted, and the numberplate doesn't even have a block of white, <i>let alone any text</i>. Perhaps more crucially, Netflix Bumblebee had the VW badge on the bonnet picked out in silver... <i>Goldbug does not</i>. In terms of making this version look <i>special</i>, it's very much a case of <i>one step forward, two steps back</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">As is to be expected, Goldbug comes with the same accessories as Cliffjumper and Bumblebee, and they can be attached in exactly the same way for the 'hydrofoil' mode. What this mold <i>lacks</i> is the roof port, so it's not possible to mount the assembled cannon. There's a way to attach it <i>inside</i> the rear section, <i>with it raised up on the robot's arms to present the robot mode/shield mode connection peg to plug into the back of the folding accessory</i>, as a sort of 'Stealth Force' armed vehicle mode... but, honestly, it looks <i>stupid</i>: vehicle mode's continuity is <i>wrecked</i>, and the gun is far too <i>long</i> to make sense. In many ways, Goldbug's vehicle mode does <i>not</i> make me regret passing on <i>Earthrise</i> Bumblebee.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Robot Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">While gold plastic, <i>even today</i>, is enough to strike fear into the hearts of many Collectors, the substitute used here, <i>for almost all the robot parts that aren't visible in vehicle mode</i>, is virtually butterscotch-coloured... and I find myself wondering if it <i>tasted</i> the same. Strangely, while the gold-ish paint is warmer than the colour of the original Goldbug and of the base plastic of the car shell, the bare plastic of the robot parts is warmer still. Goldbug's shoulders and pelvis are molded in black plastic and painted over with more of the gold-ish, but without the super-glossy finish. Pretty much everything <i>else</i> bar the head and hands is now molded in the warm gold plastic.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Naturally, the only sculpted robot detailing appears on the arms and legs, <i>and it's all identical to Cliffjumper</i>, so there's really nothing <i>new</i> to say about robot mode, generally, but that he looks <i>chubbier</i> due to the design of the Beetle's roof. I don't think <i>anyone</i> would have been expecting <i>unique</i> limbs on this. For the <i>G1</i> Throttlebot purists, it <i>is</i> possible to attach the rear section of vehicle mode with the bumper pointing down/back, to emulate the 'hooded' look of the <i>G1</i> toy but, honestly, I think he looks <i>sufficiently close</i> with the bumper pointing up. Plus, the more accurately-angled the 'hood' is on this version, the less of a <i>connection</i> the peg has with its socket.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Weapons-wise, there is nothing new to report... except perhaps that the instructions suggest a means of attaching the folding piece to his<i> shoulder</i>, with the <i>socketed</i> gun plugged onto the front, for a shoulder-mounted cannon. I don't <i>recall</i> this being suggested in Cliffjumper's instructions, but he certainly has the facility - a slot on the <i>top</i> of the shoulder matches the tab on the folding piece just as well as the slot on the side of the shoulder. This <i>almost</i> makes me wish that the <i>Earthrise</i> Battlechargers were based on <i>this</i> mold/engineering rather than taking <i>baffling</i> cues from the <i>awful</i> Sunstreaker/Wheeljack setup. I have found some of the connecting pegs to be fairly <i>loose</i> on this set of weapons - not to the point where his bazooka doesn't hold together, but it's certainly far <i>easier</i> to peg it together and pull it apart.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The head sculpt was the <i>main</i> draw here, because I'm a <i>huge</i> fan of <i>G1</i> Bumblebee's <i>toy</i> head, and so am <i>constantly</i> disappointed when Hasbro <i>continually produce toys with heads designed to resemble the ugly, puffy animation model that was never the same size or shape in one scene to the next</i>. In that <i>specific</i> respect, Goldbug may not have been <i>much</i> better off, but pretty much every instance of a contemporary Goldbug - <i>the 2008 BotCon Shattered Glass version and the 2021 Hasbro take on the same</i> - has had a <i>reasonably</i> well-designed sculpt with the something <i>approaching G1</i> Goldbug's ridged battlemask. Hasbro's version takes <i>most</i> of its cues from the Timelines toy, giving him <i>round</i> 'goggles' and <i>a nose</i>, along with a segmented battlemask. This version has the <i>entire</i> battlemask (<i>and his nose</i>) painted silver, and the goggles in cyan, where the earlier SG versions only painted the flatter <i>central</i> portion of the mask and red goggles. It's not <i>perfect</i>... but it's certainly better than <i>another</i> cartoonish Bumblebee... I do wish they'd gone for a <i>proper</i> visor, though.</div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Naturally, transformation is <i>functionally identical</i> to Cliffjumper, though I have found that the roof/window section is much harder to fit into place in vehicle mode on this, <i>possibly</i> as a result of that section being redesigned. There doesn't seem to be the same level of <i>clearance</i> versus the bonnet sections on this mold.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The main effect of having this toy <i>in-hand</i> is that I'm now wondering why Hasbro haven't retooled Cliffjumper into <i>most of the other Throttlebots</i>. Searchlight would only really require the addition of the extra rack of lights to the front of the bonnet, while Chase and Freeway would require reshelling <i>entirely</i>. Rollbar and Wideload might need more <i>extensive</i> re-engineering, but I'm pretty confident it could be done. They've done <i>other</i> individual Throttlebots in the past, but if there's one thing I would <i>genuinely </i>like to see from this <i>interminable stream of G1 reboots</i>, it's a <i>complete </i>set of Throttlebots - ideally with Wideload made to an appropriate scale.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Goldbug is decent enough, but the butterscotch-coloured
plastic used for the robot parts feels a little <i>cheap</i>, and the paintwork on
<i>mine</i> appears to be incomplete (<i>beyond the fact that it's simplified versus Netflix Bumblebee, with no
specific applications for the VW logo, the door handles, the windscreen
wipers or the tail lights</i>):
</div>
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<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbkFmmiM3M9wtffpF7X1T5C8bBaQEmiepztjYoUCPHrQqRK8gmwfo1lHR1d-7EiUkHjO-ci9zDZCUsa-y0tZhjuDWS2Rn2r4KKZUOJust6RPG7BIh1eqYnhCIThqqFB7XNWvTVDlstzeFpiVAzVN76xo2nycJHwzyttSNuwaVSUg1qW5GVjsADfpiL/s3264/IMG_5870.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbkFmmiM3M9wtffpF7X1T5C8bBaQEmiepztjYoUCPHrQqRK8gmwfo1lHR1d-7EiUkHjO-ci9zDZCUsa-y0tZhjuDWS2Rn2r4KKZUOJust6RPG7BIh1eqYnhCIThqqFB7XNWvTVDlstzeFpiVAzVN76xo2nycJHwzyttSNuwaVSUg1qW5GVjsADfpiL/w400-h300/IMG_5870.jpg" width="400" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
The front of the distinctive bonnet (<i>making up Goldbug's feet</i>) is
fully painted... <br />the bit in front of the windscreen, which
folds into the chest, is bare plastic
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdXpo4RjVBasS9iusPoPe4e5pvMwmsHCLtd4ynK4EE_KA8t7CFTljX1v4waA40xtP0DPm0YOYZFrt16l2p5CIgwNw5ZFjp5wJ6teE4nkSSlCs9AnpKZWLCig-4V-8SsDYM94_CJqPnaoF4SToZrLY8OtA0W6n3rbnlIa6U6f-Oovw6WTyg3oPNVZQ5/s3264/IMG_5867.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdXpo4RjVBasS9iusPoPe4e5pvMwmsHCLtd4ynK4EE_KA8t7CFTljX1v4waA40xtP0DPm0YOYZFrt16l2p5CIgwNw5ZFjp5wJ6teE4nkSSlCs9AnpKZWLCig-4V-8SsDYM94_CJqPnaoF4SToZrLY8OtA0W6n3rbnlIa6U6f-Oovw6WTyg3oPNVZQ5/w400-h300/IMG_5867.jpg" width="400" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
The front of the car is all nicely painted, but the gold thins out over
the wheel arch <br />and is entirely absent behind it, showing more bare
plastic.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It's not enough for me to return the set and ask for a replacement, but it's certainly disappointing to find that the main draw of the set has such obvious QC issues. Whether it's the nostalgic factor that Cliffjumper was the first TransFormers toy I ever bought, or just that this is ultimately <i>yet another Bumblebee analogue</i>, much as I <i>like</i> Goldbug - <i>and I genuinely do</i> - I still prefer <i>Earthrise</i> Cliffjumper.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Ransack</span></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Beast Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><i>G1</i> Kickback was the first Insecticon I bought, so I feel like I <i>should</i> have been more excited for the <i>Legacy</i> version than I was... but then, I'd <i>already</i> skipped on the updated Insecticons that appeared, <i>one at a time</i>, through the chapters of the <i>Prime Wars Trilogy</i> because, as an <i>adult</i> collector, <i>I just have no place for silly things like Insecticons</i>. Remaking them as soon as this, <i>regardless of the increase in size class</i>, feels superfluous.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The <i>overall</i> presentation of the figure is somewhat <i>lacking</i> versus the <i>better-known</i> trio of Insecticons. Molded largely in black plastic, with a very weird, <i>semi-translucent and soapy</i> yellow plastic for some parts of the limbs and, <i>bafflingly</i>, an entirely different (<i>and much better-looking</i>) yellow plastic used for the antenna, supplemented by an ill-matched yellow paint on the pelvic area. It's <i>so</i> ill-matched, in fact, that the paint on the <i>hips</i> doesn't even match the paint on the <i>pelvis itself</i>, and <i>neither</i> match the <i>colour</i> or <i>sheen</i> of the larger weapon accessories (<i>more in which later</i>). The wings and upper body (<i>robot's chest</i>) are molded in translucent plastic, with the wings tinted <i>orange</i> and the upper body panel <i>a smoky, brownish-grey</i>, seemingly with some metallic paint on the <i>inner</i> face... but, since the <i>Legacy</i> mold has done away with the opening chest feature of the <i>G1</i> toy, there's no easy way to <i>verify</i> this, since the body is <i>entirely pinned together</i>. Sculpted detail is fairly minimal and, <i>obviously</i>, geared toward evoking Kickback. The one thing I am <i>genuinely</i> impressed by is the <i>asymmetrical</i> detailing of the wings. Where the <i>G1</i> toy stuck to cybernetic - <i>gloriously chromed!</i> - detailing on <i>both</i> sides, this version has the v<i>einy, segmented</i> detailing of insect wings on the <i>inside</i>, with the angular, robotic detailing on the <i>outer</i> face... and the translucent plastic here shows it off from <i>every</i> angle. This toy really needed a bit more colour... and the original certainly had both additional touches of yellow and red, and a few blocks of silver breaking things up. Even just adding <i>more</i> yellow paint, on the central section of his lower torso, could have helped him look more like his <i>G1</i> ancestor.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Probably the simplest way to describe this figure is that it <i>probably</i> feels very much like a pound shop knockoff of the <i>Legacy</i> Kickback toy... though, since I have no <i>personal</i> experience of that toy, it may be that I'm being <i>too generous</i>. The base Kickback mold has been retained, but the insect head has been entirely redesigned to look like a completely different kind of grasshopper... <i>and therein lies the problem</i>. <i>G1</i> Ransack was a wholly <i>unique</i> Insecticon mold -<i> one of the so-called 'Deluxe Insecticons', taken from a toyline that apparently went unreleased when the company that developed it got bought out by Bandai, who then it licensed to Hasbro</i>. Ransack was specifically a robotic <i>locust</i>, and very <i>slightly</i> more accurate to the real-life creature by being modelled with the long abdomen absent on Kickback... so what we have here <i>instantly</i> looks low-effort by comparison.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>That said</i>, the 'twin sword' accessories packaged with Kickback are included here - molded in clear, colourless plastic <i>and overpainted with opaque yellow</i> - and the <i>idea</i> behind those is the peg them together, <i>then stuff them up the robot's bottom so they resemble a very slim abdomen</i>... It <i>also</i> serves to prevent waist rotation in beast mode, <i>which is very handy considering how strongly inclined the waist is to rotate</i>. However, the robot's legs are so <i>thick</i> this abdomen is <i>barely</i> visible from most angles anyway. This feature would have been <i>far</i> more effective if the swords plugged in to the <i>front</i> of his pelvis, rather than the back. The crazy thing is that, according to the toy's designer, this feature was added to the mold <i>specifically for</i> this otherwise underwhelming repaint. It is possible to get a better result by angling the back legs down further than is ideal, <i>but this causes a significant issue for the beast mode weapon mounting</i>. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">On which subject, it's no surprise that Ransack comes with the same weapon accessory as Kickback, a rather <i>perfunctory</i> take on the original <i>G1</i> Kickback's futuristic Tommy gun, left unpainted in black plastic. It pegs into the robot's back in either mode, with the magazine slotting into a cutout section, and leaving it underslung in beast mode, and thereby pointing slightly downward if the body is angled to make the sword/abdomen more visible. Of course, it's not <i>necessary</i> to mount those accessories as Ransack's abdomen. They can be tabbed into the outsides of his <i>wings </i>to make them larger and bulkier, <i>or</i> pegged into the sides of the black section of the <i>back </i>legs, the bulky lower part of the <i>middle</i> legs, or the <i>shoulder</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The red paint on his compound eyes is a welcome break from the black and yellow used pretty much <i>everywhere else</i>, and the new antennae, located on the <i>top</i> of his head, are pretty cute, but one of them doesn't seem to rotate very well, and sits at a slightly different angle to the other. In every other respect, the head - <i>or what's visible in beast mode, at least</i> - is pretty nondescript.</div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Robot Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">The impression that <i>Legacy</i> Ransack is just a <i>KO</i> Kickback is all the more prominent in robot mode, since <i>G1</i> Ransack's build was so different. This is essentially <i>Legacy</i> Kickback, in <i>fewer</i> colours, and with a frankly <i>dull</i> new head... There's no new paintwork <i>or</i> sculpted detail on show because this is one of those transformations that can be honestly described as <i>'standing the beast mode on its hind legs'</i>, so I genuinely don't know <i>what</i> to say about it... I was pleasantly surprised by <i>certain aspects</i> of beast mode, but robot mode offers <i>nothing</i> unexpected, <i>not a single thing</i> that isn't a <i>minimum</i> requirement these days.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Weapons-wise, there's the black Tommy gun that looks <i>nothing</i> like <i>G1</i> Ransack's gun. The abdomen/wing accessories can be wielded as swords (<i>not a great look thanks to the yellow paint</i>) and, if you don't feel like holstering his gun on his <i>back</i>, the raised 5mm ports on his <i>forearms</i> are able to accommodate the protruding magazine admirably well (<i>almost as if they were designed to do so!</i>). Alternatively, the <i>swords</i> can be pegged into these sockets to function as defensive weapons, or with the handles pointing forward, <i>possibly representing gun barrels</i>. They can even be <i>left</i> on the wings but, since that leaves their <i>hollow interiors</i> on show, that's probably the <i>least</i> effective use for them in robot mode.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The head sculpt, <i>as mentioned</i>, is pretty dull. Where Kickback has a silver-painted brim over the unpainted visor on the upper half of his face, leaving a silver-painted nose, mouth and chin visible, Ransack has <i>a band of red for his visor and an unpainted, black, fairly square and featureless battlemask over the bottom of his face</i>. The only significant differences between the two characters' head shapes are than the armour around the bottom of Ransack's 'face' is taller and protrudes <i>slightly</i> further forward, there's a prominence from the top of his head, which features a block of red in a recess on the front, the antenna are on the <i>back</i> of the head rather than the sides, and the bug eyes are larger and painted red... So those few applications of red paint are carrying a lot of weight in terms of <i>visual impact</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I've complained bitterly in the write-ups of some other toys, <i>over the last five years or so</i>, that Hasbro could (<i>and should</i>) include alternate, <i>toy-accurate</i> head sculpts as accessories... and that's <i>kind of</i> what they've done here. While the Ransack head is installed when the figure first comes out of the box, they've <i>also</i> included Kickback's head... But it almost seems as though this head is included as a toy-accurate alternative to the <i>Legacy</i> Kickback head, since the visor on <i>that</i> one was given a coating of red paint, <i>per the animation model</i>.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Transformation is functionally identical to the <i>G1</i> toy, e<i>ven down to the robot's arms/insect's forelegs and the way they combine</i>. The only differences are that this version attains more convincing <i>elbow</i> articulation, and features a <i>switch-around</i> for the robot's hands versus the insect's middle leg claw, the robot's feet are <i>separate</i> from the ends of the insect's back legs, <i>which have ball-jointed 'feet'</i>, and there's a <i>flap</i> used to conceal the robot's face in beast mode, that folds down on to his <i>back</i> in robot mode.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">I would have to admit that one area in which this <i>Legacy</i> mold exceeds the <i>G1</i> original is in articulation... <i>but surely that's the absolute least one could and should expect from a remake that arrived thirty seven years after the original</i>. The standard ankle tilt is present, and reaches pretty much 90° - <i>far more than is needed</i> - while the knees bend the regulation 90° (<i>coming to a stop a hair before the protruding spines from the insect leg hit the thigh</i>), the thighs can turn a full 360°, and the hips can swing through about 180° forward-to-back, and a touch <i>over</i> 90° out to the sides. Waist rotation is unrestricted, the wings <i>and</i> arms can rotate a full 360° around the shoulder, with the arms able to go <i>slightly more</i> than 90° out to the sides. Bicep rotation is unrestricted, <i>despite the upper arm being made of two largely separate insect legs</i>, the elbows bend to about 150-160°, and there's even a <i>kind</i> of wrist articulation due to transformation. Tilting the hand <i>down</i> for a sword-wielding pose has the side-effect of <i>bringing an insect claw out of the forearm</i>, but works fairly well. The head is on a ball joint, but only tilts a tiny bit in <i>any</i> direction... however, the antennae help with the <i>expressiveness</i> side of things.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So, basically, the <i>robot</i> mode articulation is nothing special, but the fact that it translates so <i>thoroughly</i> to beast mode is both unusual <i>and</i> impressive, and I <i>almost</i> feel inclined to be generous as a result. The front pair of insect legs are hinged to stand at about a 45° angle, but will (<i>reluctantly</i>) bend forward to 90°, while the second pair have their own <i>upper</i> joint that moves in 45° chunks, <i>plus</i> the robot's elbow joint to allow the foot to lay <i>flat</i>, and the pairs of legs on each side can make use of the robot's shoulder joint <i>and</i> the bicep rotation joint for <i>lateral</i> movement. The back legs can make <i>full</i> use of the hips and thigh rotation and, while there's a natural stopping point for the yellow ends, they <i>can</i> be pushed past that point for a full range of <i>about</i> 180°. The ball jointed feet are only <i>really</i> able to rotate around the ankle or fold <i>back</i> against the leg for transformation, but that's <i>still</i> better than pretty much any <i>other</i> Kickback toy can manage.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Another</i> bonus to this update of the character is that the head is rather more mobile, <i>even in beast mode, with the face covering in place</i>... Not that Ransack's <i>largely featureless</i> black noggin <i>needed</i> its face covered... Even the couple of degrees of tilt available to the head is enough to give him a <i>touch</i> of character, particularly when coupled with the rotatable antennae, and would be more than adequate to simulate <i>eating</i> in a stop-motion animation.</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">If this version of the <i>Legacy</i> toy is anything to go by, I'm really <i>not</i> missing much by not owning Kickback. It's probably about the same size as the <i>G1</i> original, <i>maybe slightly larger</i>, but the added articulation <i>alone</i> doesn't make it a must-have, and barely elevates Ransack above my initial impression that it's effectively a pound shop knockoff of the original. <i>In this specific case</i>, the inclusion of an alternate head feels like adding insult to injury, especially if it <i>is</i> intended for Kickback.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Skywasp</span></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Beast Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Continuing the impression that <i>Legacy</i> molds are cheap knockoffs, Skywasp - based on the <i>Kingdom</i> Waspinator mold - <i>absolutely</i> feels like a cheap, cut-down version of the 2014 <i>Generations/30th Anniversary</i> toy. The <i>body</i> of the wasp isn't too bad, and it even <i>improves</i> upon both the <i>Generations</i> toy and the original <i>Beast Wars</i> toy by giving the head a bit of articulation - the head itself can tilt up and down, the mandibles move, and the antennae can rotate. The <i>overall</i> sculpt is not bad, albeit a little <i>soft</i> in places, but that abdomen - molded in black plastic, with gold stripes painted on - looks pretty fearsome... <i>and I have to admit that looking at a wasp abdomen that well-designed, at that size, set off an unexpected twinge of anxiety for me</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The wings eschew the <i>Generations</i> toy's lever-operated, geared flapping, keeping only the simple ball joints, common to <i>both</i> the previous toys. They're molded in a lovely, bold translucent red - <i>none of the crappy pink that often ends up being used on contemporary Scourge/Nemesis Prime toys</i> - and, while nicely detailed, they feel too thick and heavy, while the veins are far too bold. They have an excellent range of movement, but still can't quite fold back against the abdomen.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Where this toy ends up failing utterly - <i>even as it improves upon the 2014 version in one crucial respect</i> - is the underside. The robot's arms fold in neatly enough, and are <i>far</i> less obtrusive than those of the <i>Generations</i> toy, but the lower legs and feet hang down <i>further</i>, and the feet can't fold in flush with the beast's thorax <i>because the robot's elbows are in the way, sticking out too far in front of the ankle joints</i>. And then there's the wasp's <i>legs</i>... which honestly look like they were styled after some sort of <i>cute, chubby cartoon insect that wore Mickey Mouse-style gloves</i>. Neither the <i>Generations</i> toy nor the <i>Beast Wars</i> original were <i>especially</i> true-to-live in their limb sculpts, but they at least gave the impression of segmented legs with comparatively vicious claws... The legs here are far too thick, looking more like <i>clumsy extrusions from a hot glue gun</i>, tipped with hands that make it look as though this wasp wants to wave happily and give people a high five (<i>OK, four</i>) with all six legs simultaneously.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In common with previous versions, the robot mode weapon stashes at the tip of the abdomen, so it can't be <i>used</i> in this mode, <i>even if there were any available 5mm ports</i>... and it doesn't even have a particularly prominent stinger... Not that that's necessarily a <i>bad</i> thing... I can imagine <i>even this</i> toy would make me feel a little <i>ill</i> if the stinger nub was longer and sharper.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Robot Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Ugh... This one is actually <i>upsetting</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In robot mode,<i> it absolutely is</i> just a cheap KO of <i>Generations</i> Waspinator, with certain changes only serving to make it <i>more</i> frustrating to handle. The <i>main</i> problem is that they've switched the arrangement of the insect legs <i>and exaggerated their fixed poses</i> such that they're constantly interfering with <i>everything</i>. Sure, he has only <i>one</i> leg on each arm, and they're <i>still</i> mounted on mushroom pegs, <i>but they stick out further and look awful</i>. Two legs on the side of each shin, <i>given the way they're bent</i>, means <i>there's not a single position available to them that doesn't get in the way of the arms or the insect legs mounted on the arms, if not the wings as wel</i>l. Making matters <i>worse</i>, the <i>Generations</i> toy had the single legs mounted <i>just above the ankles on ball joints</i>, meaning they could not only be <i>rotated</i> to run up the leg, they could also be <i>folded in against the leg, minimising their impact on articulation, and looking generally cleaner</i>... It's like the designer of this version just didn't <i>think</i> about what they were doing... <i>and that's even before you remember the silly, chubby cartoon hand on the end of each leg</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It's a shame, because the black and purple colourscheme, supplemented by touches of gold on the thighs and chest, actually looks <i>fantastic</i>. The translucent red wing/cape works <i>very</i> well, and is complemented by touches of red on his shoulders... That said, <i>in common with other figures in this set</i>, there's very little robot-mode specific paintwork. The shoulders are painted glossy black, with additional blocks of the same paint on the <i>forearms</i>, but the lower legs are <i>completely unpainted</i>. Given that this is <i>supposed</i> to be a Skywarp homage, I would have <i>preferred</i> for almost everything to have been molded in <i>black</i> plastic with purple accents either painted in where appropriate (<i>shins, feet</i>), or for <i>fewer</i> parts to have been molded in purple plastic. It certainly seems as though <i>at least two different types</i> of purple plastic have been used here - leaving aside the <i>softer, matte-finish</i> plastic of the insect legs, the hands and heel spurs are a slightly different in <i>sheen</i> and <i>shade</i>. While Skywarp would traditionally have <i>silver</i> accents, I quite like the gold used here and, while I <i>like</i> the translucent red, I'm not sure it was the most <i>appropriate</i> choice, since Skywarp features no red in his <i>usual</i> paint job.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The sculpted detail is largely softer and more simplified versus the <i>Generations</i> toy, but it certainly takes a lot of <i>cues</i>. The <i>type</i> of detailing is similar, but where the groin on the earlier toy is fairly <i>slim</i> and features the impression of layered armour angled <i>downward</i>, this version has something that looks almost like a <i>leaf</i>, with the suggestion of <i>upward</i>-angled panels. The 'horns' on the knees are splayed more <i>widely</i> and seem proportionally <i>larger</i>, but the raised section <i>between</i> them comes to a stop just <i>before</i> they start to protrude. The claw-like pattern wrapping round the lower legs is more extensive, and no longer <i>looks</i> like claws, more like <i>exposed pipework</i>, almost as if it was designed for this figure <i>from memory</i> rather than real-world reference to <i>either</i> of the existing Waspinator molds.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Skywasp's weapon is <i>absolutely pathetic</i>. Obviously, we can't expect <i>spring-loaded missiles</i> like those of the <i>Beast Wars</i> original, but the <i>Generations</i> toy had a simple transformation for the stinger blaster, where the stinger itself flipped 180° <i>within</i> the tip of the abdomen. This one is <i>a simple, solid chunk of plastic with a perfunctory gun barrel sculpted into the otherwise hollow underside</i>... and even that barrel has been hollowed out to save on plastic. The fact that it <i>barely</i> protrudes below the abdomen shell section is pretty crummy, but a simple touch of gold paint on the gun details <i>might</i> have helped bring it to life a bit. It also seems as though the gun is designed to wrap <i>around</i> the hand to a degree, as if it's trying to suggest that this abdomen section suddenly <i>grows out of the robot's forearm</i>... This is a somewhat similar effect to the way the blaster in the <i>Generations</i> toy covers <i>part</i> of the hand, but it's more extensive here.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Ultimately, about the only <i>good</i> thing about this toy is the head sculpt... but even <i>that</i> is just a cut-down version of the <i>Generations</i> toy - <i>almost identical in its detailing, but smaller, and not as sharp</i>. Granted, the translucent red plastic that makes up the back of the head is less obtrusive than the cloudy, colourless light piping of the older Waspinator, and the addition of red paint for the antennae and the upper 'mandibles' on the sides of his head livens things up <i>a touch</i>, while the black frames to his eyes and the gold central crest are actually a <i>significant</i> improvement on the basic green and yellow of the <i>Generations</i> version of Waspinator... Though, <i>overall</i>, I don't think the paintwork is as extensive <i>or</i> as intricate as on the <i>Kingdom</i> version of Waspinator.</div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As one might expect from a cut-down version of the <i>Generations</i> toy, transformation is somewhat simplified... <i>though it's not without its fiddle-factor</i>. The things that - <i>ahem</i> - bug me the most are that the robot's torso - <i>the chest in particular</i> - doesn't tab together <i>in any way, shape or form</i>, and the two halves of the insect head are very much inclined to slip back together as they don't clip into place once split to form the robot's chest. The arms stow <i>underneath</i> the head and thorax, which is all nice and neat, but they don't peg into the <i>body</i> very securely, and the hands have to be in a very specific orientation to make them fit <i>at all</i>. It might have been <i>more</i> helpful if the hands <i>themselves</i> had connected to a 5mm peg on the thorax, rather than relying on a <i>smaller, separate</i> peg and socket. The pelvis swings through 180° between beast and robot modes, much like the <i>Generations</i> toy, but here it's on <i>a rotating hinge</i> rather than a ball joint, and it only tabs in <i>securely</i> in beast mode. <i>Throughout</i> transformation in either direction, the beast mode legs are almost never <i>not</i> in the way. Getting Skywasp back into beast mode is otherwise <i>mostly</i> quite smooth, though the robot's legs are intended to tab into the underside of the abdomen, <i>just below the robot's knees</i>, and then a pair of forked tabs are supposed to slip over tabs on the forearms, <i>but neither are especially secure connections</i>, and just a <i>slight</i> twist of the waist joint - <i>which is not specifically restricted by any transformation step</i> - will unseat <i>both</i> sets of tabs... And it strikes me that waist rotation was likely <i>left off</i> the <i>Generations</i> toy precisely <i>because</i> it would reduce the structural integrity of beast mode, as it does here. <i>Another</i> frustration is that getting the mounting for the beast mode head to <i>stay</i> on the tiny tab on the front of the thorax can be problematic, and the <i>slightest</i> nudge can knock it off... That said, it's <i>still</i> more secure than when it's serving as the robot's chest.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Robot mode articulation is fine, <i>up until the insect legs start getting caught up with each other</i>. The joined pair on each calf can only rotate about 180°, and the <i>best</i> option seems to be to turn them <i>back</i> as far as possible, such that the longer parts are pointing up, <i>as if he's waving forwards with all four of his chubby mittens</i>. Those on his arms are <i>also</i> best served by turning them so the feet are pointing upward, giving maximum clearance. He has all the standard, contemporary points of articulation - ankle tilts, 2-part feet, knees that can bend through almost 180° for transformation (<i>albeit with the insect legs getting caught up with the robot's arms and their own legs</i>). The hips are hindered by the abdomen, such that he can only really kick forward (<i>a little over 90°</i>) and out to the sides (<i>another 90°, butting up against the mandibles on his waist</i>), but I was actually pleasantly surprised to see this mold has an upper thigh swivel joint. The waist joint <i>theoretically</i> has a full 360° range, but the beast head and mandibles <i>clash</i> with the pelvis, causing the chest to lift up and out, <i>since it doesn't actually peg into the body</i>. The arms can swing round a full 360° at the shoulder (<i>assuming the insect legs don't get in the way</i>) and 90° out to the sides. Bicep rotation is <i>only</i> hindered by those insect legs, the elbows bend a touch under 180° due to transformation, and his wrists can rotate freely. The head is on a ball joint that can rotate a full 360° and which offers some expressive <i>sideways</i> tilt, but it can barely tilt up <i>or</i> down due to the design of the head and its short neck. The ball joint facilitates easy switching of the stock head for the supplied alternative... Which is basically the original <i>Beast Wars</i> toy's <i>non-mutant</i> head, cast in purple plastic, with red light-piping for the eyes, gold paint for the face, and metallic cyan for the 'bat wing' ears. This, at least, is <i>not</i> a potential swap-out for <i>Kingdom</i> Waspinator, as the colourscheme is all wrong. I'm all for alternate heads, but this one in particular is not one I'll be using... I didn't like it on the original <i>Beast Wars</i> toy and, <i>despite the sculpt being quite detailed</i>, it's really no improvement.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Of course, the idea that this is a Skywarp homage <i>at all</i> is thrown into doubt by the small fact that <i>this colourscheme is precisely what was used for the cancelled 2003 Wal-Mart exclusive 2-pack</i> of <i>Transmetals</i> Waspinator (<i>mostly black, with purple, red and gold</i>) with Nightprowler... a grey and yellow repaint of <i>Beast Wars</i> Cheetor, which Hasbro has referenced <i>separately</i> with the 2022 release of <i>Legacy</i> Nightprowler, using the <i>Kingdom</i> Cheetor mold. This colourscheme was <i>also</i> used by the TransFormers Collectors' Club, for the 'Parasite Waruder' from the BotCon 2015 exclusive toy add-on sets. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Scorponok</span></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Beast Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">And so, <i>finally</i>, we come to the <i>other</i> toy in the set that I was <i>mildly interested</i> in... Though I should <i>qualify</i> that by adding that I decided to get the <i>Beast Wars</i> reissue Scorponok, cancelling a preorder for the <i>Kingdom</i> toy, because the new version ended up looking a bit <i>crap</i> in robot mode.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Beast mode is another story, and it's actually quite an <i>impressive</i> rendition of a scorpion, at least from most angles. The carapace is quite softly-sculpted - much like all too many of the <i>Kingdom/Legacy</i> beasts - but the hinges are sensibly placed <i>between</i> individual plates of sculpted armour, ensuring it all looks as <i>clean</i> and <i>coherent</i> as possible. While the original <i>Kingdom</i> release used a colourscheme based on the character's appearance in the TV show - <i>something on which the BW reissue followed suit</i> - this toy is based on the colourscheme of the original <i>Beast Wars</i> toy, and thereby makes Ransack look like the odd one out, being the only character using predominantly <i>yellow</i> and black, where both Skywasp and Scorponok primarily use red and purple to supplement the majority black plastic.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The tail isn't quite so well jointed as the <i>Beast Wars</i> toy, and obviously lacks its spring-loaded lever gimmick, but its main problem <i>here</i> is that transformation plugs one of Scorponok's robot mode legs into the <i>underside</i> of the tail, with his heel spur protruding as a little black spike about halfway up. The uppermost section, <i>accounting for two tail segments and the stinger</i>, is articulated separately, allowing it to curl forward and back on a hinge, while the stinger itself is on a ball joint. My eyes <i>may</i> be deceiving me, but it <i>appears</i> that the line of six raised nubs on either side of the final tail segment have been picked out with a very dark, metallic charcoal paint.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The legs certainly do better than on the original <i>BW</i> toy, though they're still <i>pretty</i> weird, all being joined on a single hinge <i>at the body</i>, with ball joints at the first knuckles. The front and back legs on each side have their own ball joints, but it seems as though the designers felt the middle two didn't merit such <i>lavish</i> treatment - at either side of a <i>single</i> ball joint, the middle pair of legs on each side is joined, with the ball peg coming off between the top segments and the socket between the lower segments. A closer inspection of the underside suggests this <i>may</i> have been a move borne of <i>budget constraints</i>, since the lower segments appear to have <i>the vestiges of individual ball joint sockets</i>. The sculpt of the legs - while perhaps not entirely true to life (<i>scorpions normally having just two pincers per leg, not three chubby fingers</i>) - is <i>comparatively</i> detailed, <i>vastly</i> more impressive than the likes of Waspinator/Skywasp, <i>and clearly the result of a different hand in their design</i>. While rigid <i>below</i> each ball joint, the sculpt features defined and softly-textured segments, the middle two on each leg carrying a group of three rounded nubs, <i>possibly</i> as reference to the spines present on some scorpions' legs.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The claws seem rather <i>cumbersome</i>, far too large at their widest point, and tapering off to the tips far too quickly, making them look disproportionately short and fat. It's understandable given that they need to be able to contain his missiles and cyberbee, but it ends up making them look rather <i>comical</i>. They seem to use similar colour of plastic to the stock <i>Kingdom</i> release, but they're actually slightly <i>translucent</i>, with a cool sheen that <i>seems</i> to be part of the plastic - <i>since it's apparent on all parts cast in that colour</i> - but looks almost like a <i>spray-on</i> finish.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The beast mode head sculpt is <i>vastly</i> more realistic than the <i>BW</i> original,<i> albeit still much simplified and softly-detailed compared to a real-life scorpion</i>. The main 'fangs' look nothing like a real scorpion's chelicerae, and are painted metallic purple, while Scorponok's eyes are picked out with small blobs of red paint, giving him quite a fearsome look. I'm not sure whether the robot's shoulders, <i>poking out around the chelicerae</i>, are supposed to represent <i>additional</i> 'mouth' parts, but they don't look <i>entirely</i> out of place, at the very least.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The main problem here is that the robot's head is plainly visible <i>below</i> the beast head, tucked in between the robot's chest panels along with <i>one</i> of his legs, <i>which then pokes out of the back, below the tail</i>. These do more to help beast mode stand up that the beast mode legs, whose ball joints, while not <i>loose</i>, are nowhere near tight <i>enough</i> on the stock figure to support the toy's weight.</div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Robot Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">The very first photo of <i>Kingdom</i> Scorponok in robot mode was enough to make me cancel my preorder for the figure. Seeing it in action, <i>in later photos and video reviews</i>, merely confirmed that I'd made the right choice. The figure is <i>a blocky, disproportionate mess</i> in robot mode, and this alternate version has precious little going for it thanks to its <i>cut-down</i> paint job.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The body looks far too <i>square</i>, and appears to stop prematurely, before abruptly presenting the pelvis and legs, making him look <i>squat</i> rather than <i>stocky</i>, when both the CGI character from the TV show <i>and</i>the original toy look <i>comparatively tall and lean, with a broad upper chest and shoulders</i>. About the only <i>upside</i> to the torso is that, while it lacks the <i>contrasting</i> highlight for the 'jewel' embedded in the middle of his chest, it <i>is</i> picked out with the metallic charcoal paint, which is also sprayed over the <i>lower</i> half of the torso <i>and</i>over the pelvis, granting it a far more visible sheen than the bare black plastic would offer.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>In and of themselves</i>, the arms and legs look OK... and could probably pass for both being intended for a figure in the same scale, <i>were it not for that blocky torso</i>. The translucent purple pauldrons have their spikes picked out with metallic charcoal, and there's a spray of metallic purple over the dappled texture and vent-like detailing of the forearms, supplemented by <i>more</i> metallic charcoal paint for the spikes on the outer faces. The red plastic at the wrist is a little <i>jarring</i>, and something of an eyesore, but it can be concealed through clever angling of the arms and pincers. The legs come out the <i>worst</i>on this repaint, because <i>paint is precisely what they're lacking</i>. The <i>Kingdom</i> version had gold paint on the raised armour detailing that runs down the middle of the shins, <i>from the knee to the foot</i>, along with darker purple paint on the band running around the leg just below the knee joint, and on the tips of the feet. This one has <i>bare plastic all the way</i>... though, admittedly, even <i>that</i> looks fairly nice, since the plastic's built-in sheen shows off the <i>texture</i> of the lower legs.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Naturally, the <i>Kingdom/Legacy</i> mold doesn't include the spring-loaded features of the original <i>Beast Wars</i> toy, so Scorponok's armaments are a bit of a disappointment as well. Each claw features the standard, hexagonal 5mm socket used throughout the <i>War For Cybertron</i> series, and allowing all manner of accessories to be plugged in. What's <i>included</i> in the set is a fused pair of missiles attached to a <i>single</i>5mm peg, painted red and adorned with Maximal insignias (<i>not a mistake - it's referencing the CGI in the TV show</i>) and an extremely perfunctory 'cyberbee' with a 5mm peg coming off its rear end. <i>To be fair</i>, it is decorated with a surprising amount of paint (<i>metallic purple on the wings, yellow and metallic purple stripes on the abdomen, and a stripe of metallic charcoal on the head, running from the antennae to the mandibles</i>), and the sculpt isn't <i>terrible</i> overall... it's just so <i>small</i> and <i>underwhelming</i> when compared to the massive, <i>spring-loaded</i> cyberbee of the original toy. I think the missiles are the biggest disappointment here, since the original had two<i> independently spring-loaded</i> missiles, and there <i>is</i> sufficient space inside the claw to have been able to include <i>two separate</i> missiles here... Worse still, the fused pair provided are also <i>hollow</i> on one side.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The stock head is a very clear reference to the <i>Beast Wars</i> TV show, and looks pretty good in terms of its <i>sculpt</i>, but coupling the gold visor with plain <i>white</i> paint over the sour expression on the jutting lower half of his face looks rather crummy and softens its already vague detailing. In addition to the TV-show inspired head sculpt, this figure is packaged with the head that debuted with the <i>Legacy</i> release <i>Kingdom</i> repaint - <i>and BotCon 1999 homage</i> - Sandstorm. The head swap on this one is easily the most <i>difficult</i> of the set, since the socket on <i>either</i> head is pretty tight, and they seem formatted to only come off in a particular way. On the upside, the <i>alternate</i> head adds more red into the mix, with yellow-painted eyes peering out of the black 'gas mask' presenting a very welcome contrast. I can't help thinking, though, that the colouring and the design of the alternate head end up making it look like some kind of <i>fetish mask</i>.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Scorponok's transformation is <i>just one more</i> disappointing aspect of the toy. I like the <i>idea</i> of one leg folding into the tail, and I like the <i>idea</i> of the other folding into the underside of the scorpion's body but, <i>in practical terms</i>, the former completely <i>negates</i> the tail's articulation below the final, uppermost hinge, while the latter makes the toy look <i>untidy</i> and <i>unfinished</i>. The robot's chest is left open to accommodate this 'spare' leg, with the foot pointing back, <i>directly below the robot's pelvis</i>, at the base of the tail. It looks as though the foot is <i>intended</i> to peg into a notch in armour at the top of the <i>other</i> lower leg, but the plastic would need to <i>flex</i> beyond its limits to make that happen. Alongside that, <i>the robot's head only tilts down into the chest by about 45°</i> so, as mentioned above, it's never properly <i>concealed</i>, despite minimal clearance from the surrounding chest panels. <i>Conversely</i>, the beast mode head can be a little tricky to deploy because it folds fully <i>and quite tightly</i> into the inside of the beast mode's dorsal plates, and that panel has to be opened as far as the hinge allows to ensure the necessary leverage. Clipping the robot's pelvis into place in <i>either</i> mode can be a little fussy (<i>I believe this was the cause of the problems a lot of people had getting the chest to stay closed in robot mode</i>), but the main problem, <i>regardless of which way you're working</i>, is that the ball jointed beast legs somehow conspire to <i>always</i> be in the way, no matter <i>what</i> you're trying to do.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">All the expected joints are here, starting with ankle tilts that travel close to 180°, though the asymmetrical arrangement of the feet means that, while the <i>toes</i> can tilt up and down on both feet, <i>the heel spur of the left foot is fixed, and thereby less useful for posing</i>. Transformation also allows <i>super-deep</i> knee bend, unrestricted thigh rotation, hips that swing almost a full 180° forward-to-back, but a touch under 90° to the sides <i>due to the beast mode legs being in the way</i>. The waist only rotates about 40° in either direction due to his backside butting up against the based of the tail. The shoulders can rotate a full 360°, and the arms can lift out to the sides by near enough the regulation 90°. Bicep <i>and</i> wrist rotation are unrestricted, and the elbows can bend almost 90° forwards <i>or</i> backwards, and then the claws open asymmetrically - the <i>larger</i> half moving less than the <i>smaller</i> half, yet achieving almost a right angle between them at their <i>fullest</i> extent. The head is on a ball joint, but it can only manage 360° rotation and a <i>small</i> backward tilt due to the design of either head.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">I definitely didn't lose out by ordering the <i>Beast Wars</i> reissue version of Scorponok rather than the much-anticipated <i>Kingdom</i> toy and, <i>given that I ordered it at a substantial discount</i>, it ended up only costing a couple of quid more. There are some great <i>ideas</i> in the engineering, but the toy has ended up feeling <i>half-baked</i> and <i>untidy</i>. It doesn't exactly <i>look</i> like a cheap knockoff - if anything the opaque black and translucent plastics look <i>better</i> than the opaque grey and purple of the <i>Kingdom</i> version - but almost everything about the toy <i>feels</i> like a cheap knockoff. Had the sculpted detail been <i>sharper</i> throughout, <i>and if they'd worked out a way of giving him better proportions</i>, it could have been far better. As it is, it's a great advert for the <i>Beast Wars</i> reissue.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Transforming him back to robot mode while writing this, one of the protruding mandibles on the stock head <i>snapped off</i> having got caught between the chest panels. This appears - <i>in part, at least</i> - to be because they're attached to the <i>front</i> half of the head, while the <i>bulk</i> of the curved armour piece that sweeps down from the 'ears' is on the <i>back</i> half of the head, <i>slotting in between the front half of the 'ear' and the tip of the mandible</i>. Granted, I'm a layman when it comes to toy design, but this seems like a <i>structurally unsound</i> approach. I'll probably <i>try</i> to repair it at some point, but it's unlikely to hold any better, so I'll probably stick with the alternate head from now on.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8tNlxZN5b50S_vNum_yXFBL2d4zKQcfF9UM9r33pRjRC42E9LI-g-c6zGNFiU6KNM_qMismj50P2cuRLHVWH6vP6ha-DYEBB3SzO_E-bX4TA-sjqcZVZWSWS4GmrWlZPatpUg0JYy_NK5S8uvDn6JDzXNOluUsVNjeuK3TUf5ApH3QI0wWUJDSz2V/s1408/IMG_6021.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1408" data-original-width="1408" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8tNlxZN5b50S_vNum_yXFBL2d4zKQcfF9UM9r33pRjRC42E9LI-g-c6zGNFiU6KNM_qMismj50P2cuRLHVWH6vP6ha-DYEBB3SzO_E-bX4TA-sjqcZVZWSWS4GmrWlZPatpUg0JYy_NK5S8uvDn6JDzXNOluUsVNjeuK3TUf5ApH3QI0wWUJDSz2V/s320/IMG_6021.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">So, in summary, I would imagine that, had I paid the full price of £93 for this boxed set, I
would have felt <i>thoroughly</i> ripped off. Even at <i>half</i> its original RRP, the set feels <i>disappointing</i> and <i>lazy</i>. It doesn't <i>help</i> that I have older <i>and vastly superior</i> versions of a couple of these toys, but two of them <i>genuinely
feel like knockoffs</i> in-hand, and the other two are <i>mediocre at best</i>. I almost
didn't bother getting Ransack out of the packaging because he looked so bad,
and the original Kickback version of this mold was hardly inspiring to begin
with... and yet that's the only one that came <i>anywhere close</i> to actually impressing me.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;">Scorponok turned out to be <i>precisely</i> what I'd expected from the mold -
a decent, if <i>rushed-looking</i> beast mode coupled with an
<i>awkward-looking, poorly-proportioned</i> robot mode - but the breakage on the stock head, <i>during a normal transformation</i>, was ridiculous. Skywasp hits the right
notes in terms of his <i>colourscheme</i> and his pun name, but that's the
<i>best</i> I can say about him. Ransack... looks and feels like a pound shop
knockoff in official TransFormers packaging because his yellow plastic is
grainy and appears translucent in a way that doesn't look entirely
<i>intentional</i>, while what little paintwork there is -
<i>a scant handful of applications in a predictably poorly-matched yellow</i>
- is inconsistent between his body and his accessories. Objectively speaking,
the four figures are <i>possibly</i> worth the £11-ish each of the
<i>discounted</i> price... but the variation in <i>quality</i> between each of
them and the <i>obvious</i> QC errors are cause for concern.
</div>
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</div>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-14841543498380126432023-02-14T10:00:00.003+00:002023-02-14T10:32:25.014+00:00The Other Half 4: On Femme-Bots!<div style="text-align: left;">Not long after I posted my write-up of <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/big-firebird-toy-ex-01-nicee.html" target="_blank">Nicee</a>, and followed it up with my post <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/on-femme-bots-and-fandoms.html" target="_blank">about Femme-Bots generally and the fandom's reactions to Nicee in particular</a>, I asked my girlfriend if she'd be willing to write an opinion piece of her own. Not that I felt my <i>overtly positive</i> impressions of the figure needed any kind of <i>legitimising</i>, but because I was genuinely <i>interested </i>in what she might have to say.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />After all, this is someone who sees my collection - <i>on display in closed, glass-doored cabinets in our lounge</i> - as part of the scenery in our home, to the point where <i>she barely notices it at all</i>. I know she's <i>aware </i>of my appreciation for Femme-Bots, and I get the impression she's neither <i>offended </i>nor <i>threatened </i>by it... but, equally, it's not something that we really talk about in any great depth. I tend to show her any and all new purchases - including Big Firebird's <i>most recent</i> transforming Femme-Bot, <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2023/02/big-firebird-build-ex-series-ex-01-plus.html" target="_blank">Mooka</a> - but I don't exactly expect <i>a detailed and discerning assessment</i>, because I know she's just not really that <i>interested</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">However, I <i>did </i>say that I was going to get her to offer her thoughts on the matter and, while they've taken a couple of years to coalesce, they arrived just in time for Valentine's Day, so <i>here we go</i>...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Mr <b><i>HEX</i></b>didn't... and I have been together for just over ten years. Our relationship was, as they say, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2ePlOfiuSE" target="_blank">rooted in friendship</a> - or, to be more precise, rooted in increasingly lengthy emails touching on a variety of topics from the ridiculously geeky to the sublimely geeky. We finally met after a year of going back and forth like this, quickly discovering that we were able to have similarly lengthy conversations in person. Some of these, naturally, are about TransFormers, and at least one of them was about Nicee, hence Gord asking me to write down some of my thoughts.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll start by saying that I am not a TransFormers fan. Believe me, I’ve tried, but it’s just not my thing. I’m very happy for it to be Gord’s thing; it makes him happy, doesn’t cause any harm, and we have plenty of other interests in common. That’s not to say I don’t have opinions on particular TransFormers or the franchise as a whole though. When it comes to Nicee in particular, those opinions are definitely coloured by my own experiences as a woman and someone who used to be very involved in online activist spaces.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll start by saying that Nicee is ridiculous. I don’t think that’s in question; she is a sexy robot lady who turns into a car. The question the TransFormers fandom seems to have been engaged with is whether this is a bad thing or not, and for me this question can be answered by addressing the following points.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Is Nicee being marketed to children?</b> As far as I can tell, no. If she were, that would be entirely inappropriate. Since she’s a third-party toy, and a limited edition one at that, I don’t think she can even be considered emblematic of the TransFormers brand.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Is the existence of a sexy Femme-Bot toy causing real harm to women?</b> I would argue no, because there is a difference between something being objectionable on an intellectual level and it causing true physical or psychological harm. Also, Nicee is clearly designed to be a sexy robot, which I find less objectionable than a Femme-Bot who is the peer of male robots but has to be set apart from them by being sexier, prettier, less substantial, or just painted pink. I think of Nicee as being like pin-up art, which is specifically designed to be sexy in a way that is apart from everyday depictions of women, versus things like beauty pageants, overtly sexual imagery in adverts, and images of topless models in mainstream newspapers.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Is Nicee an example of objectifying women?</b> Again, I would argue no. The complex ethics around humanoid robots is beyond me, but Nicee specifically is clearly an object - yes, designed to look a bit like a woman, but not in fact a woman. You could argue that imagery like this contributes to objectification of real women in everyday life, but I do feel that’s a bit of a reach.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Is Nicee contributing to wider issues of sexism within the fandom?</b> This is where I don’t feel especially qualified to talk, so won’t too much. However, I will say that I would not be surprised if some women felt unwelcome in the TransFormers fandom, simply because it does feel very male-oriented. I also know that some men in the fandom have reacted very strongly to objections about Nicee, and I understand why they might feel defensive, but treating people poorly because they have a different opinion is never acceptable.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Should we care about Nicee?</b> To be clear, if you really care about Nicee and feel her existence says something significant about society then that’s fine - everyone has their opinion. Nicee is the sort of thing I would have cared deeply about a few years ago, and would have been very indignant at the idea of someone telling me it wasn’t important. I do think it is good to think critically in all aspects of life and worth trying to address even relatively small injustices. I’ll even admit there are things I care about a lot that aren’t that important, though at least I do acknowledge their relative insignificance.</div><div><br /></div><div>That being said, these days there are some things I just can’t bring myself to care about because it feels like wasting a lot of energy on something that ultimately doesn’t matter. I think this happens a lot in online spaces particularly, and was especially prevalent during the pandemic when people were stuck at home spending way too much time on social media. There are feminists who would campaign about something like Nicee but have no quarrel with the porn industry, which even those in favour of sex work must see causes some degree of real harm to real people.</div><div><br /></div><div>To summarise, I understand why people were bothered by Nicee, but I hope I’ve explained why I don’t feel she represents a huge threat to women’s rights. Online discourse is so polarised, it can be difficult to express an opinion that falls somewhere on a spectrum without being treated like it actually lies at one extreme or the other, and people tend to assume the worst however carefully you word things. Nevertheless, it’s been interesting for me to attempt to wrestle my thoughts about Nicee into words, so thanks to Gord for giving me the platform (and encouragement) to do so.</div></div>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-79230180671478158132023-02-13T23:45:00.002+00:002023-02-14T10:18:29.210+00:00Hasbro, Collecting, and Me...<div style="text-align: left;">Long-time readers will surely have noticed that 2022 was a bit of a <i>sparse</i> year as far as the TransForm-A-Blog is concerned. Twenty-nine posts <i>in total</i>, of which just 17 were <i>proper</i> toy write-ups - the lowest number since 2009 -<i> which was the first full year I was posting this blog</i>, when I was still figuring out how I wanted to <i>use</i> the blog, and still only a few years back into the idea of collecting as a genuine <i>hobby</i>.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">During this two or three years, with the launch of Hasbro Pulse, Hasbro has really upped its game in terms of its Social Media engagement, hosting <i>semi-regular</i> livestreams catering to fans across their portfolio of brands. Hasbro has launched new <i>toylines</i>, new <i>TV shows</i>, and even started the promotional juggernaut for <i>the first live action TransFormers movie in five years</i>. In theory, there's an awful lot of material to blog about. One could be forgiven for thinking that now is an <i>exciting</i> time for TransFormers fans... But it's really <i>not</i>.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"> Not for <i>me</i>, at any rate, and I can be fairly sure that I'm not <i>completely</i> alone in all my concerns... <i>Some</i> of them, maybe, <i>but not all of them</i>.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">I've written, <i>in other opinion pieces here</i>, about my increasing sense of <i>ennui</i> regarding Hasbro's TransFormers output, the downsizing, the increased costs, etc... but the <i>War For Cybertron Trilogy</i>, <i>Studio Series '86</i> and now <i>Legacy/Legacy Evolution</i> seem to me to represent the absolute <i>stagnation</i> of the brand shifting swiftly and assuredly into <i>active decay</i>, along with an increasing sense that everything Hasbro does now is about maximising shareholder profits, heedless of any and all fallout, rather than <i>creating worthwhile products</i>... And it's not <i>only</i> evident in TransFormers.
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span><a name='more'></a></span>Over the last year, Hasbro has attracted scorn for its machinations in the <i>Magic: The Gathering</i> community and, <i>just in the last few months</i>, the <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> community. The former were up in arms over a <i>mass reprinting</i> of formerly rare cards which, <i>while not valid for play</i>, nevertheless devalued the <i>original</i>, playable cards. The latter had their collective nose put out of joint by proposed changes to the so-called 'Open Gaming License', the <i>existing</i> version of which had been described <i>in its own text</i> as "irrevocable". Debate over the <i>true</i> import and impact of the changes raged for quite some time, with plenty of people pointing out that the changes in revenue due to Hasbro (<i>in the form of Wizards of the Coast</i>) were only due <i>if earnings exceeded a pretty high threshold</i>, and that much of the change related <i>only</i> to licensed reprints of their copyrighted and trademarked material, <i>none of which is actually required when producing third-party expansions/scenarios for the game</i>. This was largely drowned out by the tide of angry people cancelling their subscriptions to D&D Beyond, and talking about <i>boycotting</i> the upcoming D&D movie, amongst other things.
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"> While Hasbro/WotC rallied to claim this was <i>precisely</i> the sort of valued feedback they had <i>wanted</i> all along, to help <i>fine-tune</i> the changes to the OGL - talking about the initial <i>leak</i> of the the updated license text as if it was <i>intentionally</i> made public through <i>official</i> channels - they eventually bowed to pressure, and shelved the idea of updating the license... <i>for the time being</i>. This isn't necessarily a <i>good</i> thing... but it's exactly what the community of people buying Hasbro/WotC's products had <i>asked</i> for.
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">All of this led to the stock market knocking a <i>huge</i> amount off the value of Hasbro's share value back in November due to its <i>"over-monetising"</i> of its brands, and for the Bank of America to declare <i>just this month</i> that Wizards of the Coast is <i>"underperforming"</i> while it <i>"continues to destroy customer goodwill"</i>. No matter what optimistic fans might say in their defence, it surely says something <i>pretty dire</i> about the current leadership that such <i>lofty oracles</i> are issuing such dread pronouncements.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">But how does any of this relate to Hasbro, <i>the parent company</i>, or to TransFormers toys and my acquisition thereof?
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"> Well, there are a number of parallels. <i>As far as I can see</i>, the quality of the toys started its decline around the time Hasbro shifted its manufacturing from China to Vietnam, to avoid the tariffs imposed by <i>a certain former US President</i>. Materials have felt <i>cheaper</i>; molding defects and mold flashing have become more prevalent; toys have been far more prone to <i>breakage</i>; engineering has <i>regressed</i> to early 2000s standards in service of minor improvements to articulation; paint applications are more <i>miserly</i>... and yet prices have continued to escalate <i>at a time when most people are finding their disposable income curtailed by the increasing cost of the necessities</i>. This seems to run contrary to the perception that these are kids' toys - <i>an idea frequently floated by apologists in response to collectors expressing disappointment with the products</i>. Further confusing the issue is the argument that Hasbro (<i>and other mass-market toy manufacturers</i>) have to meet certain <i>quality</i> and <i>durability</i> standards in their products, which Third Party companies - <i>those who are expressly creating products for adult collectors</i> - do not. If the toys are demonstrably <i>less</i> durable than those from, say, ten to fifteen years ago, <i>how can it be that Hasbro are still meeting the quality and durability standards for children's toys</i>? And how is <i>increasing</i> the price of these toys going to attract more children (<i>or their parents</i>) to buy such increasingly <i>crummy</i> products? TransFormers <i>used</i> to be pocket money toys back when I started collecting in 1984/5, with a few that one might have to save up for <i>over the course of a few weeks</i>... they're certainly not <i>that</i> anymore.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"> Furthermore, there was a report, <i>back in December of last year</i>, which indicated that 'kidults' - <i>a lazily styled demographic loosely defined as 'anyone of 12 years and over'</i> - make up a <i>quarter</i> of the toy market's consumers, and are <i>the biggest driver of growth in the industry</i> while <i>younger</i> children eschew action figures, etc. in favour if <i>digital</i> entertainment via phones and consoles, <i>particularly the portable kind like the Nintendo Switch</i>. This is no doubt because such devices been used by parents for <i>years</i> to placate noisy, hyperactive, irritated kids, while the so-called 'kidults' grew up in simpler times, when such options, <i>if available</i>, just weren't as common, and toys were still one of the <i>primary</i> means of keeping kids entertained and occupied.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">The apologists are also inclined to point out that Hasbro is a <i>business</i>, and its primary concern has always been <i>making a profit</i>. While factually accurate, in saying this, they are basically trying to convince others that <i>nothing significant has changed in Hasbro's business practices</i>. They tend to say that cuts are <i>inevitable</i>, and that it's all part of an effort to strike a balance between production costs and RRP of the toys themselves. One can't deny the <i>underlying truth</i> of that statement, or that there certainly <i>are</i> external economic factors at work behind the scenes, not least the cost of oil - <i>the most fundamental constituent of all plastics</i> - but the fact remains that Hasbro used to at least give the <i>impression</i> of pride in their products, and of concern for their durability.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Any discussion of the simplification of transformation <i>inevitably</i> loops back to the disagreements over Hasbro's intended target demographic, via the oft-reported claim that it is the result of customer feedback - <i>specifically (allegedly) from parents</i> - to the effect that the toys had become <i>too</i> complex, often referencing the 2009/10 <i>Revenge of the Fallen</i> toyline. Here again, though, if the toys are truly intended for children, <i>simpler toys that keep breaking aren't going to be any more popular with the parents who might be paying for them, let alone the kids playing with them</i>. One way to <i>lose</i> customers is to sell them <i>shit</i>, and I'd say that tends to be <i>even more</i> true of parents buying toys for their children: if they <i>know</i> the product is unreliable, they will be inclined to <i>avoid</i> it in future. However, if they're intended for an <i>older</i> demographic of collectors - <i>some of whom, lets face it, don't even remove the figures from their packaging anymore</i> - they can be perceived as more forgiving, <i>especially of problems they will never actually encounter with their MISB collections</i>. Those that actually <i>remove</i> their toys from the packaging, these days, seem to be more inclined to attempt <i>repair</i> rather than simply throw the toy away. But the bottom line is, if Hasbro et al <i>are</i> actually targeting older children and the adult collector market - <i>that is, to punters who are used to handling potentially more delicate merchandise, and who have a more discerning eye</i> - why do the toys look and feel so <i>cheap</i>, while costing so much?</div><div><br /></div><div>When toys break, there are two choices: buy a replacement (<i>if available</i>), or accept that the toy is fundamentally flawed and <i>prone</i> to failure, and move on. It's all very well if a toy breaks during extensive and active <i>play</i>, but some of them have broken <i>during the course of normal transformation</i>. Sure, we've <i>all</i> had the occasional tab break off... but <i>entire limbs</i>? The number of photos I've seen of figures whose legs have <i>sheared off at the hip</i> is surprising enough, but then factor in the <i>simplicity</i> of the transformation that caused it and it becomes <i>utterly insane</i>. If Optimus Prime has to raise his legs by 90° at the hip to achieve his truck mode, you would never expect <i>that</i> 90° of movement to be enough to cause his leg to <i>detach</i> - neither for the peg to <i>pop out</i>, nor for that peg to <i>tear itself apart</i>.</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">These days, it's plainly obvious that their products are being manufactured <i>on the cheap</i>, and the <i>markup</i> applied to decide the RRP is <i>higher than it has ever been</i>. If Hasbro can afford to cut the price of certain products by 50% - <i>even for just 24 hours, as was the case in their 2022 Advent sale</i> - you can bet they're still making <i>more than adequate</i> profit on those sales, meaning the toys are, <i>without doubt</i>, grossly overpriced.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Alongside this, Hasbro launched 'HasLab', a crowdfunded production model for all their brands, where fans are invited to pay <i>egregiously</i> inflated prices, <i>up front</i>, for a figure that <i>may or may not</i> live up to its full, intended potential, depending on whether or not certain targets are reached. If <i>baseline</i> production is fully funded by the requisite number of backers, <i>bonus features</i> are floated in an attempt to secure <i>additional</i> backers... and it's here that Hasbro seem to fail to read the room, offering features - <i>and, in some cases, full figures</i> - that are neither <i>appropriate</i> to the main project, nor <i>desirable</i> by fans. For Hasbro, it is clearly all about what they can do <i>most cheaply</i>, rather than what they can do <i>to make the most of the project</i>. One of the most recent TransFormers 'successes' for HasLab was Victory Sabre/Victory Leo, which <i>seems </i>like a great set... <i>except for a handful of QC issues, not least scuffed paint and chrome due to the careless way the figure was packaged</i>. Given the cost and the limited run, such QC issues are evidence of <i>a fundamental lack of concern</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">This has bled through into the main toylines several times, and in myriad ways. Aside from the slew of ugly, boxy and very basic <i>G1</i>-style toys, The <i>War For
Cybertron Trilogy</i>, and the <i>continuation</i> of its themes under the <i>Legacy</i> banner, has seen a number of remixes - <i>more specifically, downgrades</i> - of toys Hasbro
released in the past. The original <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/beast-wars-reissue-waspinator.html" target="_blank">1996 Waspinator</a> mold was clever <i>for its
time</i>, and had a <i>reasonably</i> clean beast mode, but wasn't one of the greatest
<i>Beast Wars</i> toys. The <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2014/11/generations-30th-anniversary-waspinator.html" target="_blank">2014 Generations/30th Anniversary</a> toy was of a similar
<i>size</i>, but vastly more complicated, incorporating a <i>geared</i> wing-flap and a (<i>simple</i>) transforming weapon. Its robot mode looked <i>great</i>; its beast mode <i>somewhat less
so</i>, because the robot's arms hang down its sides while the legs ended up
hanging under the abdomen with the feet folded up and tabbed in under the
head. <i>Seven years later</i>, the <i>Kingdom</i> version of Waspinator is not only
<i>smaller</i>, but less complex and - somehow - <i>even less tidy</i>. While the robot's arms fold
in <i>under</i> the abdomen now, the lower legs don't fold in as <i>cleanly</i>, the robot's feet
stick out at a weird angle from <i>below</i> the head, <i>and the chubby insect legs are
amateurishly sculpted with cartoonish 'hands' at the end</i>. About the only
<i>advantage</i> it has over previous versions is that the beast mode head and mandibles are mobile. <i>On balance, I
don't think that's a significant enough benefit to compensate for what has been lost</i>.
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Wholly new molds have been little better. Elita-1 has been getting a raw deal since Hasbro first started making toys of her, but the <i>War For Cybertron</i> version was just a repaint of the <i>utterly dire</i> Arcee mold that was released later (<i>itself a positively criminal reworking of the <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2015/05/transformers-legends-takara-tomy-30th_29.html" target="_blank">Generations</a> toy</i>). Adding insult to injury, the <i>Legacy</i> version - <i>quickly revealed to be a pretool for Minerva</i> - is conspicuously blocky and ugly, even in a line that has made a <i>virtue</i> of being blocky and ugly "because <i>G1</i>". As a Collector, I <i>should</i> be excited by new Femme-Bots... and the <i>idea</i> of a <i>Legacy</i> version of Minerva certainly had the <i>potential</i>... but the <i>reality</i> of the toys has been invariably disappointing. I was <i>cautiously pleased</i> to learn that <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2018/11/transformers-adventure-tav03-strongarm.html" target="_blank"><i>RID2015</i>'s Strongarm</a> is getting a <i>Legacy</i> remake... but then I look again at <i>Legacy</i> Elita-1/Minerva, and a suspicion forms in my mind that Strongarm will just be <i>a partial retool of that same mold</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><i>
Legacy</i> Metalhawk was show in one of the recent Fanstreams, and a virtue was
made of the fact that it's a partial retool of <i>Kingdom</i> Cyclonus - <i>specifically, because they had one partial retool remaining unassigned in their production schedule, and one of the designers was convinced he could make an adequate
Metalhawk out of Cyclonus</i>. On the surface, it may not seem too bad... but the
vehicle mode <i>really</i> stretches credulity, and the choices of plastic colour for
molding its parts means that there is some extensive paintwork in areas it
really <i>shouldn't</i> have been needed. The sample shown exhibited signs of
underpainting <i>and</i> overpainting at various points and, while it could be argued
that this was <i>a pre-production sample</i>, virtually all of the products shown in
a similar state in <i>previous</i> Fanstreams have ended up looking <i>precisely the
same</i> when they reached the shelves. Frankly, Metalhawk is a fringe character <i>at best</i>, who
needn't have appeared <i>at all</i> until <i>Legacy</i> turns its focus more <i>specifically</i> to
<i>Masterforce</i>, given that his main appearances have been in that Japanese
extension to <i>G1</i> and in the IDW comics. All they've done here is <i>force</i> him through early <i>on a limited budget</i>... and that doesn't do <i>anyone</i> any favours, least of all the consumer.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Then, <i>by contrast</i>, we have Jazz... a central <i>G1</i> character - <i>one of Optimus
Prime's lieutenants, no less</i> - who somehow <i>failed</i> to materialise in <i>any</i> form during the <i>War For Cybertron
Trilogy</i>. A new figure was eventually released in the <i>Studio Series
'86</i> line, concurrent with the <i>WFCT</i>, but it was typically simplistic and fragile, <i>with
reports of its roof breaking off quicker than even that of the G1 toy</i>. In all honesty,
the only thing making him look distinct from, say, an <i>Earthrise</i> release was
the <i>dearth</i> of 5mm ports that had been <i>consistently</i> and <i>extensively</i> used throughout <i>Siege</i>, <i>Earthrise</i> and <i>Kingdom</i> toys to facilitate the Weaponiser and Fossiliser
gimmicks. It almost feels as though the <i>intention</i> was for him to substitute
for an <i>Earthrise</i> Jazz, but the fact that there was no <i>Siege</i> Jazz in the first
place was an absolute travesty. What we're now getting, instead, is <i>Origin
</i> Jazz - a figure in the <i>Buzzworthy Bumblebee</i> line, as a direct
follow-up to the <i>Origin</i> Bumblebee toy, and similarly designed to mimic the
<i>lazy</i> Cybertronian animation model which turned a vehicle that looked like a wingless Viper
from <i>Battlestar Galactica</i> (<i>or, as people have pointed out,
certain brands of hand-held vacuum cleaners</i>) into a robot that nevertheless
has the front end of a Porsche 935 Turbo (<i>or its closest animated analogue</i>) on its chest. Bad enough that we're stuck with years to come of <i>G1</i> variants, but
to deliberately reference - <i>not to say celebrate</i> - the absolute <i>bullshit</i> of the <i>G1</i> cartoon feels like an abject waste of <i>time</i> and <i>resources</i> for Hasbro... And yet both <i>Origin
</i> Jazz and <i>Legacy</i> Metalhawk are being praised in exactly the same <i>rose-tinted,
blinkered, fanatical way</i> that <i>Legacy</i> Blitzwing was praised <i>for its fidelity to
an animation model that wasn't consistent with itself, let alone the latest
toy</i>. <i>Origin</i> Jazz just makes me all the more glad I own the <i>Generations/Reveal the Shield</i> toy.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Throughout all of this, over the last few years, in part due to my finances, I've been buying less and less... I've been finding
less to get <i>excited</i> about in the future of Hasbro's TransFormers output... and
that has very much translated into less <i>enthusiasm</i> toward blogging about my
existing collection, <i>let alone the tiny handful of new purchases I've made</i>. While I bought a fair number of the <i>Kingdom</i> Maximals and Predacons, I barely <i>touched</i> the preceding chapters. <i>Legacy</i> is now starting its second chapter and, until recently, I'd bought just <i>one</i> figure from the line. Even on the line I've sunk the <i>most</i> money into since its inception, <i>Studio Series</i>, I've bought just <i>a third</i> of the line's total output to date (<i>though, facing facts, about a quarter of it has been Bumblebee variants</i>). Almost every one of my purchases over the last two or three months has been bought <i>at a huge discount</i>... But sometimes <i>even that</i> has not been enough to entice me. The Entertainer has dropped the price of the <i>X-Men/TransFormers Collaborative</i> figure, Ultimate X-Spanse, to a mere £20, <i>about a quarter of its original RRP</i>, just to get rid of its remaining stocks of the <i>misjudged</i> and <i>poorly executed</i> figure.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I recently found that GAME UK (<i>and other retailers in the same group</i>) had
started listing some TransFormers products at massive discounts - <i>much like
the 50% discounts Hasbro offered in their Advent sales</i>. Much like Hasbro Pulse, if a
third-party retailer can afford to apply a 50% discount, the markup of the RRP
must have been <i>huge</i>. Ultimately, I ended up ordering the <i>Buzzworthy Bumblebee</i>
Creatures Collide boxed set of <i>WFCT/Legacy</i> repaints, even though I was only really interested in about
<i>half</i> the set. I was quite keen on Goldbug, because it neatly <i>circumvents</i> my
reluctance to buy new Bumblebee figures by being a homage to the <i>G1
</i> Throttlebot, using the <i>licensed</i> VW Beetle vehicle mode that had been
effectively a <i>limited edition</i> due to Bumblebee appearing in the <i>Netflix</i>-liveried portion of
the <i>War For Cybertron</i> toyline. I was <i>vaguely</i> interested in Scorponok because,
where the <i>Beast Wars</i> reissue was recoloured to better match the CGI from the
TV series, the <i>Buzzworthy</i> re-release of the <i>Kingdom</i> mold was recoloured to
better match the original <i>toy</i>. Skywasp was appealing to me for the same reason
I liked <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/transformers-collectors-club-2013_16.html" target="_blank"><i>Timelines</i> Ultra Mammoth</a> - a silly, beast-related pun name - though I already knew the toy would be
disappointing <i>in-hand</i>... And Ransack... Well, Ransack was of <i>zero</i> interest because <i>it's a low-effort repaint as homage to a G1 Insecticon that had a unique mold and was never even available in the UK</i>. In hand, I'd say the set is barely worth the £45 I paid, let alone its £93 RRP... But I'll get into <i>that</i> in another post.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Far be it from me to point fingers but, over the last ten or more years, <i>back under the leadership of Brian Goldner, but more clearly discernible under the new CEO, Chris Cocks</i>, Hasbro has <i>perniciously</i> reduced the quality of its output, according to several metrics, while pricing itself into <i>irrelevance</i>... and not only in the TransFormers brand. They have engaged in some dubious tactics in a clear attempt to gouge ever more money out of the wallets of <i>several</i> fandoms. Certainly, they still have their <i>rabid loyalists</i>, who seem to feel both <i>joyful</i> and <i>fortunate</i> to be offered such low-effort crap, and ever-ready to praise <i>"the best G1 we've had in years"</i> and snap it up upon release... but I'm not sure that's necessarily a <i>good</i> thing, long term. Sure, they'll keep <i>making</i> TransFormers toys, <i>and</i> movies, <i>and</i> TV shows... but most of it will <i>continue</i> to be low-effort crap if Hasbro are <i>rewarded</i> for producing low-effort crap.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For the same money Hasbro expected me to pay for Ultimate X-Spanse, I bought <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2019/08/dx9-kaleidoscope-03-la-hire.html" target="_blank">La Hire</a> from the Third Parties. Alternatively, Hasbro's Deluxe class <i>Studio Series</i> version of <i>TLK</i> Hot Rod is £26, but smaller, less well engineered, more fragile and sorely underpainted. Sure, it's <i>cheaper</i>... but do you even get what you pay for?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I bought <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2022/10/metagate-g-01-haiku.html" target="_blank">Haiku</a> for about £110, yet similarly-priced offerings from Hasbro are absolutely mediocre - the <i><a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2022/09/jurassic-park-x-transformers-tyrannocon.html" target="_blank">Jurassic Park Collaborative</a></i> set, Tonkanator (<i>an utterly superfluous UK G2-adjacent repaint of the 1985 G1 Devastator set, itself a repaint of an even older Diaclone set</i>) or, for a little less, there's Commander class <i>War For Cybertron: Kingdom</i> Rodimus Prime. Meanwhile, Hasbro has no direct equivalent version of Drift - no <i>Masterpiece Movie</i> figure (<i>yet</i>), only two <i>separate</i> Deluxe class <i>Studio Series</i> figures - <i>the helicopter one is a remold, the car a repaint of a figure from an older line</i> - both pretty simplistic, the former selling for about £26, the latter closer to £30 <i>thanks to the unnecessary addition of Dinobot baby figures.</i> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I didn't bother buying Hasbro's <i>Masterpiece Movie</i> Ratchet at its circa £130 RRP, and instead bought <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2021/05/jh-01-rescue-pioneer-ko-masterpiece.html" target="_blank">Rescue Pioneer</a> for a little over <i>half</i> that, getting a <i>much</i> better-looking product... Obviously, Rescue Pioneer could not <i>exist</i> without <i>MPM</i> Ratchet... but at a time when <i>original</i> figures from the likes of Unique Toys are so far advanced in comparison to the official <i>Masterpiece</i> figures, in terms of both engineering and paintwork, Hasbro's output no longer <i>lives up to</i> the brand name of '<i>Masterpiece</i>'.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/masterpiece-mp01-convoy.html" target="_blank">MP01</a>, first released in 2003, was a genuine <i>Masterpiece</i>, and still is a marvellous figure, despite now appearing rather dated. Even <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/masterpiece-optimus-prime-v2.html" target="_blank">MP10</a> was better than I'd <i>expected</i>, but more <i>recent</i> entries try to turn <i>cartoonish</i> robots into <i>realistic</i> vehicles, which results in a jarring, frustrating mess of a transformation <i>and a figure with more panel seams than sculpted details</i>. There are now those who feel the main toylines, certainly from <i>War For Cybertron</i> onwards, make the <i>Masterpiece</i> line largely redundant because of the disparity between cost and quality... But then Hasbro produces things like <i>Legacy</i> Needlenose - the quintessential <i>'robot stuck to the bottom of a jet'</i> that Hasbro has been defaulting to since <i>G1</i> in the mid-1980s - even though they <i>could</i> have completely redesigned him to be more efficient with his mass. It has been almost 40 years since the TransFormers brand launched, and I tend to think that <i>'G1, but with better articulation'</i> is no longer acceptable, <i>even as a bare minimum requirement</i>. At the current asking prices, virtually every <i>Legacy</i> release so far has been an easy pass... and what little I've seen of the <i>Evolution</i> chapter hasn't been any more attractive.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div>But that's just me. <i>Your mileage may vary</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I started out eagerly watching Hasbro's Fanstreams live, but quickly shifted to watching them retrospectively, so I could fast-forward through most of the presentation to get a look at the <i>toys</i>, because there were so <i>few</i> 'reveals' that hadn't <i>already</i> appeared online, sometimes weeks or even months ahead of the <i>official</i> reveal. Eventually I just stopped watching <i>entirely</i> due to the content of the presentation getting reposted <i>everywhere else</i> within minutes, <i>sometimes even during the presentation</i>, making the presentations themselves largely irrelevant. These streams are full of <i>forced enthusiasm</i> for toys that simply aren't as good as their output from just <i>ten years ago</i>, along with desperate cherry-picking of the one or two examples of <i>positive</i> feedback from a chat log that's full of complaints that they're 'revealing' products that have been known about for weeks or months (<i>due to leaks</i>) or little more than repaints, <i>or generally more of the same</i>. Hasbro's audience have been whining for years about Hasbro not doing enough to show off upcoming products, of failing to make adequate use of social media for promotion, but now they're whining about <i>having to wait so long after the toys are revealed for them to appear in shops</i>. Leaks have become so common <i>some</i> fans get confused as to why they can't find new figures in their local toyshops, when they're still <i>months</i> away in Hasbro's distribution schedules. For Hasbro, it's very much a case of <i>"damned if they do, damned if they don't"</i>. If they reveal things officially any <i>earlier</i>, there will be more complaints about the <i>delays</i> before products hit the shelves. If they carry on as they are, their Fanstreams will seldom have any <i>exclusive</i> reveals.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Considering I first got into TransFormers via <i>Generation 1</i> back in the 1980s, it often puzzles me how my expectations and preferences are so <i>different</i> from other self-professed GeeWunners. The major distinction seems only to be that my exposure to the brand came via the toys <i>first</i>, and the crummy cartoon second, thanks to its <i>inconstant</i> scheduling within the UK's incipient early morning television broadcasts. I genuinely hope that I'll find some <i>Legacy</i> figures worth buying (<i>there were none in the most recently-revealed crop</i>), and I'm sure I'll find a few more <i>Studio Series</i> figures to add to my collection, but I'm not sure I can consider myself a <i>capital-c</i> Collector of Hasbro's TransFormers toys anymore.</div><div><br /></div><div>Based on the two short movie trailers thusfar revealed, the new movie is coming across as Bayverse Mk II rather than a continuation from the <i>Bumblebee</i> solo movie, <i>despite being pitched as a direct follow-up, set in the 1990s</i>. The first handful of toys revealed - both in the standalone<i> RotB</i> toyline and within <i>Studio Series</i> - look like misshapen messes with <i>budget-level</i> engineering that <i>barely</i> qualifies them as 'robots in disguise'. <i>SS</i> Airazor is a retooling of <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2021/04/war-for-cybertron-kingdom-airazor.html" target="_blank">the <i>Kingdom</i> toy</a> so lazy and ill-judged that it no longer fits together properly, while the standalone <i>RotB</i> version would look great if it weren't so brown. By contrast, the Deluxe class <i>RotB</i> version of Cheetor is a lazy retooling of the <i>Kingdom</i> toy that somehow manages to look <i>better</i>, albeit more <i>Beast Machines</i> than <i>Beast Wars</i>, while the Voyager class <i>SS</i> version is a blocky mess whose beast mode proportions are more <i>simian</i> than <i>feline</i>. <i>SS</i> Scourge is a skinny, hollow mess with most of its vehicle mode cab flattened out on his back. The Mirage figure just revealed, as I write, seems to have similar levels of excessive leg kibble as <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2021/11/studio-series-75-jolt.html" target="_blank">the <i>Studio Series</i> version of Jolt</a>, <i>yet the fact that it barely resembles the on-screen CGI almost counts in its favour because it appears to have sufficient mass to support its vehicle mode</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There have been <i>moments</i>, recently, that I've looked over my collection - particularly figures like <i>Kingdom</i> Tigatron, whose white plastic is rapidly turning <i>greenish-yellow</i> in places - and wondered why I've sunk so much money and taken up so much space with products made by<i> a company that now produces ever higher proportions of crap</i>... A company that signed off on Michael Bay's <i>delirious, hateful, misogynistic and adolescent</i> vision of TransFormers as a live-action movie franchise, and almost consistent blunders with its <i>other</i> brands' faltering attempts at cinematic breakthroughs... <i>A company that gaslights its customers, and has little genuine impetus to do anything truly innovative with the TransFormers brand while the most vocal majority of its consumers are satisfied with an ongoing sequence of substandard reboots of their glory days</i>. I've said it before but, as far as I'm concerned,<i> no TransFormers is better than shit TransFormers</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div>And did I mention that, ignoring the <i>'86</i> abominations, <i>Studio Series</i> is almost 25% Bumblebee, and yet Hasbro <i>deliberately</i> scheduled #100 to be their <i>Rise of the Beasts</i> Bumblebee figure?</div><div><br /></div><div>It's utterly enervating.</div><div><br /></div><div>I mean, <i>to be fair</i>, 2022 wasn't a great year for my mental health <i>generally</i>, and that may well be a contributing factor in my fatigue... but, until <i>something</i> changes, I'm dubious as to whether I can sincerely describe myself as <i>a TransFormers fan</i>, let alone a Collector. I shall ever be <i>a fan of the concept of 'robots in disguise'</i>, certainly, and remain <i>a Femme-Bot Fanatic</i>... but the TransFormers brand has started to putrefy, and its merchandise has become a largely contemptible shadow of its former self, put out by a company that long ago ceased to care about anything beyond its own social media echo chamber. <i>And if the beating it's likely to take in the stock market isn't enough to change its trajectory, I don't know what would be</i>...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">However,<i> and, again</i>, if it's any reassurance, there are still a lot of TransFormers toys - <i>old and new</i> - for me to write about on this blog... For the time being, though, I suspect my updates will continue to be as <i>scarce</i> and <i>sporadic</i> as they were last year.</div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-81394553174444479132023-02-03T10:00:00.043+00:002023-11-03T16:16:25.030+00:00Big Firebird Build EX Series EX-01 Plus Mooka (AKA Mocha)<div style="text-align: right;">
<b><i><span style="color: #f4cccc;">(Femme-Bot Friday #81)</span></i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><i>I know</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I originally said I <i>wasn't</i> going to write about this figure
<i>here</i>, but on my oft-neglected, <a href="https://toyshexcetera.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">more <i>general</i> toy blog</a>... However, sometime between Mocha/Mooka's announcement and actually
<i>receiving </i>the toy in the post last year, I realised that
was <i>the wrong decision</i>. While it still <i>doesn't</i> fit here in the
sense that it's <i>not </i>a Third Party take
<i>on a TransFormers character</i>, it doesn't fit <i>there </i>in that it's
clearly an adult collectable rather than a toy. In many ways, posting about the
<a href="https://toyshexcetera.blogspot.com/2021/06/good-smile-company-cyclion-type-lavender.html" target="_blank">Cyclion</a>
<i>there </i>was somewhat mistaken.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />However, I've covered <i>Go-Bots</i> and myriad other Third Party figures, so the TransForm-A-Blog is clearly not <i>wholly </i>about TransFormers. Plus, Mooka is
<i>derived </i>from a figure that was originally <i>conceived </i>as <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/big-firebird-toy-ex-01-nicee.html" target="_blank">a stylised take on Arcee</a>, so I've decided to post this <i>here</i>, and henceforth <i>try </i>to keep
<b>Toys, <i>HEX</i>cetera</b>... focussed on things that are more <i>general </i>action figure material.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />So, prepare yourselves for <i>another </i>controversial and divisive Third
Party Femme-Bot, this one seemingly deliberately reworked to <i>play into</i> some of
the complaints made about Nicee when she first emerged.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<span><a name='more'></a></span>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Packaging:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">There are certainly some common <i>stylistic </i>threads between Mooka's box and Nicee's. The image on the front is <i>very similarly cropped</i>, showing a 45° on her chest and shoulder, with the lower part of her face poking in from one corner, but presented as both a mirror image and almost a <i>negative</i>, thanks to Mooka's distinct colouration. The back of the box is printed on a largely silver foil background, with a faded image of the robot behind several <i>smaller </i>shots of the figure in <i>achievable </i>action poses, and boxed-out images showing her alternate heads and the vehicle mode. The sides feature similarly-framed images of vehicle and robot mode, and Nicee's 'opposed crescent moons' logo has been tweaked such that it's rather <i>more </i>obviously representing <i>a pair of tits</i>. What's <i>strange </i>here is that the Big Firebird branding <i>itself </i>has taken a bit of a back seat - where Nicee's box had the full, stylised 'firebird' version of the logo, this one is <i>text-only</i>. The entire box also has some kind of <i>textured laminate</i> applied to it, though the box itself feels a little <i>flimsy</i>, despite the upgraded visual presentation. There's a sticker on the inside of the box's top flap, displaying "Mooka - 1133", <i>presumably </i>being its number within the total production run.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Inside</i>, the figure is packaged in robot mode, with all her accessories in a couple of smaller, separate trays stacked alongside her within the main shell. The instructions this time are a simple, six-page gatefold leaflet, with the transformation steps summarised in a way that might make them confusing to those who <i>don't</i> already have experience of Nicee. She <i>also </i>comes with a sheet of waterslide decals, though I was pleased to see that <i>some </i>of the logos and such are present as <i>factory-applied</i> paintwork or tampograhs - when I first heard about the waterslide decals, I was concerned that she'd arrive 'blank', and I'd have to spend some time applying them, so finding that this was <i>not </i>the case was a relief.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Presentation-wise</i>, then, this is a bit of a mixed bag... In some respects, it's a <i>higher </i>spec than Nicee, while it's a step backwards in others. My main concern would be the <i>durability </i>of the box, considering the comparatively light stock used, and I'd have much preferred <i>less </i>elaborate finishing to the box if it allowed for heavier card.</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBXXDhG39h7h9pLgbLVJq49aUkIYxVzaYBdcPR6C4fpnx3NePPosvbZwNvSoIok4G9-1FnVG4MrNRTA_WVuA8dEtC-WLu_MCwD5Hea6MZdePD4HOL-PUDeozam9femVqQqJNR8immywRWEeiy54Z9TNrGv-S3nUBFkp5AVLMmWRjdtblrNMLVbmAHV/s3264/IMG_4792.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBXXDhG39h7h9pLgbLVJq49aUkIYxVzaYBdcPR6C4fpnx3NePPosvbZwNvSoIok4G9-1FnVG4MrNRTA_WVuA8dEtC-WLu_MCwD5Hea6MZdePD4HOL-PUDeozam9femVqQqJNR8immywRWEeiy54Z9TNrGv-S3nUBFkp5AVLMmWRjdtblrNMLVbmAHV/w150-h200/IMG_4792.JPG" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9mfAZXSDL0rS76jkS2XGwsyfrtGV0EMXFucpGjvcXt2okFS0F3-eRq3h5Ex55Zwy_YhtpB9dliqFuG7DQ7yNnw7kINvCz-dnqt-0UEou4MiTsUHUyY79dV9I7vbNnv2O_JTJMbRJW6F1RvPeI16HiyK5-vqiwrDYaaagX_RiGkdEGR6-urzSwuysw/s3264/IMG_4793.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9mfAZXSDL0rS76jkS2XGwsyfrtGV0EMXFucpGjvcXt2okFS0F3-eRq3h5Ex55Zwy_YhtpB9dliqFuG7DQ7yNnw7kINvCz-dnqt-0UEou4MiTsUHUyY79dV9I7vbNnv2O_JTJMbRJW6F1RvPeI16HiyK5-vqiwrDYaaagX_RiGkdEGR6-urzSwuysw/w150-h200/IMG_4793.JPG" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBKhyqIPpZqiGf4tqfqGVN7uDC-5abU7bnLREET1MLOL368NOW4ZO6Dn1dNVRPk4nhDYhAhoL6w7jY88XyCcJXfasg4Jkur-JHnIUmC8EjTn5Qb6LliDj-n_-At6hm1o-m_Haau8TFJglYxrZSbGm9ZU46vf-2Wngr3SOQms2ASFxJ6pwFOfxOKwv1/s3264/IMG_4794.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBKhyqIPpZqiGf4tqfqGVN7uDC-5abU7bnLREET1MLOL368NOW4ZO6Dn1dNVRPk4nhDYhAhoL6w7jY88XyCcJXfasg4Jkur-JHnIUmC8EjTn5Qb6LliDj-n_-At6hm1o-m_Haau8TFJglYxrZSbGm9ZU46vf-2Wngr3SOQms2ASFxJ6pwFOfxOKwv1/w150-h200/IMG_4794.JPG" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKkl3ztCJOkta-CXlwI0-rG5tc0pb9QZ1jrPtHQegZfofcxbbBZm41l_04j9fmZUKQZBccr9TCARerZ-cc3FfIdp1y1LD2Uvn4b5D87Qcw7k6Y83YNXlyBInMPuspo5bbyQ7wkJvjYFZkqCTOK0MiCdsFysddvjbS7S8T44BU5UPSVzs0dP0cH6sy0/s3264/IMG_4795.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKkl3ztCJOkta-CXlwI0-rG5tc0pb9QZ1jrPtHQegZfofcxbbBZm41l_04j9fmZUKQZBccr9TCARerZ-cc3FfIdp1y1LD2Uvn4b5D87Qcw7k6Y83YNXlyBInMPuspo5bbyQ7wkJvjYFZkqCTOK0MiCdsFysddvjbS7S8T44BU5UPSVzs0dP0cH6sy0/w150-h200/IMG_4795.JPG" /></a>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Vehicle Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Something that struck me almost immediately - and which almost consistently <i>fails </i>to come across in photographs (<i>not just mine!</i>) - is that Mooka is <i>not </i>black... She's a super-dark <i>purple</i>, and it looks absolutely divine. One could even describe the colour - wholly <i>without </i>irony - as aubergine, with a <i>nudge-nudge, wink-wink</i> nod toward the emoji. The thing is, since I'd been <i>expecting </i>black, and already know from the number of Nemesis repaints I own that <i>black versions of things look awesome</i>, I was wholly unprepared for how much <i>better </i>something can look if the 'black' carries a <i>hint </i>of colour. From some angles, Mooka looks like most of her bodywork is a super-dark grey with a soft sheen rather than a sharp gloss finish... but then, <i>when the light catches her at the right angle</i>, the purple shines through very subtly, complementing the <i>vibrant </i>metallic pink trim that forms vehicle mode's <i>secondary </i>colour. This pink is applied sparingly, and mostly to <i>emphasise </i>the sweeping curves of vehicle mode. The largest applications wrap around the vehicle's canopy, ending right at the back on either side, with shorter stripes running along the front wings from the covered wheel wells, across the redesigned front bumper, and across the <i>front </i>of the bonnet.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Supplementing the metallic pink, there are touches of silver on the <i>frame </i>of the front grille, as well as around the tail lights and exhaust details, and dashes of both silver <i>and </i>metallic pink as <i>accents </i>to the headlights which, themselves, are shelled by translucent <i>orange </i>plastic. On top of this, there are a handful of racing decals stamped onto the vehicle at various points. <i>Most </i>of these are on the front of the bonnet and the several repetitions of 'NICE' dotted around come across as <i>references </i>to Nicee. Additionally, there are designs on the roof and bonnet which could be interpreted as involving the letters C, G and/or Q, <i>or </i>as depicting some kind of dial - <i>possibly a speedometer</i>. I rather like the <i>asymmetry </i>of having more decals on the righthand side of the vehicle (<i>complemented by a single silver-and-pink stripe on the lefthand side of the spoiler</i>) though there's <i>one </i>oddity to this. The matching decals on the tops of the front wings are <i>mirrored</i>, such that the text of the one on the <i>left </i>side reads correctly, <i>but the one on the right reads backwards</i>. Whether this was <i>deliberate, artistic choice</i> or simple <i>carelessness</i>, it is one small detail that counts <i>against </i>this repaint, in my opinion. If the factory-applied decals just aren't enough, the sheet of waterslide additions should be sufficient to fill in those gaps in Mooka's stock paint job which offend the eye of the more <i>discerning </i>racing sponsorship enthusiast.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">When this figure was first revealed, I'd expected vehicle mode to be a simple repaint, with all the <i>new </i>parts focussed on robot mode, but it turns out there are <i>more </i>changes than the addition of a simple enclosed canopy over the driver's compartment. As previously mentioned, there's a new front bumper <i>and </i>a spoiler, but the entire rear panel <i>and</i> roof have been redesigned as well. The upshot of this is that, <i>essentially</i>, Mooka actually looks <i>better </i>than Nicee in vehicle mode. The front end <i>still </i>looks vaguely serpentine, but is smoother - <i>without the little ridges between the headlights and the central grille</i>. The spoiler honestly doesn't add <i>much</i>, but the redesigned rear end conceals <i>slightly more</i> of her hips and pelvis. The new roof <i>continues </i>the pattern of sweeping curves that are present throughout this vehicle mode design, and the frosted translucent blue, <i>hinged and ball-jointed</i> canopy disguises the shallow detailing of the cockpit area. In fact, it's amazing how a few simple adjustments to the <i>shape </i>of certain parts can change the whole <i>feel </i>of the vehicle. Granted, the colourscheme carries <i>most </i>of the weight on that score, but this really is a <i>development </i>and <i>refinement </i>of Nicee's vehicle mode, rather than a simple repaint.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I would express <i>some </i>concern about the spoiler, since the tabs on the 'ears' (<i>literally rabbit ears for the robot mode's two head sculpts</i>) are attached by the <i>smallest </i>tabs and the <i>shallowest </i>slots I have ever encountered, <i>even on a Third Party figure</i>. That said, once attached, they don't seem inclined to pop off without deliberate manipulation... Nevertheless, careless handling should be avoided. Other than that, everything seems to tab in pretty securely, though the <i>alignment </i>issues I had with the sweeping curved strips that wrap around Nicee's hips at the <i>back </i>are very much present on Mooka as well.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Robot Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">My first impression of Mooka was that she's designed to look like a robotic <i>maid</i>, based on the colourscheme, colour layout and the tiara/headpiece (<i>due to its lacy styling</i>). The <i>leggings </i>are very much nonstandard for that look but, coupled with the angular, high-heeled foot design, her design seems to have been skewed toward the more <i>fetishised </i>'maid uniform' available today than anything <i>genuinely traditional</i>. The other angle to this design is the 'Race Queen' - models who basically hang around with the pit crew in (<i>mostly</i>) Japanese motor racing, dressed in costumes that match the team's livery, and frequently pictured holding umbrellas... which explains <i>one </i>of the accessories included with this set. All that said, one of the interesting <i>changes </i>to her sculpt, versus Nicee, is that the appearance of her feet, knees, shoulders <i>and</i> collar are more akin to <i>armour</i>, where the other retained hints of Arcee's almost organic curves even after the <i>G1</i>-style head sculpt was cut from the package.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">While Mooka's vehicle mode is quite different from Nicee, her robot mode looks surprisingly similar in its <i>silhouette</i>, while being markedly divergent in its <i>details</i>. Obviously the colouring and an altered <i>distribution </i>of colour are the <i>most </i>significant change, but the pauldrons are <i>smaller </i>and <i>less </i>rounded, the genouillères are <i>larger </i>and <i>more </i>rounded, and the feet - <i>heel, toe and the independently mobile plate that covers the front of the ankle</i> - have been <i>entirely </i>redesigned for this new figure. Pretty much everything else appears, <i>at first glance</i>, to be the same sculpt as was used for Nicee.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The distribution of colour is fairly similar to Nicee on the <i>limbs </i>- Mooka's <i>arms </i>are largely silver, with the trim at the elbow and cuff painted metallic pink, while the pauldrons now similarly split between silver and metallic pink rather than being all one colour. The legs are <i>almost </i>all one colour - now the shimmery aubergine, with the only variation being the metallic pink on the heels and the flap on the calves. The body is painted as if wearing a dark leotard with a silver belt and a triangular cut-out below the bust. As with vehicle mode, there are some racing-style decals applied - one on the right side of her <i>chest</i>, one on the right side of her <i>waist</i>, directly above the belt, and one in the 'belt buckle' area, each complementing the one on her right <i>thigh</i>, which was visible in vehicle mode. The decal on her chest matches the one from vehicle mode's roof (<i>similar to, but distinct from the one on the front of the bonnet</i>), while the one on the waist matches the one from the <i>back </i>of the bonnet, just in front of the windscreen. The one on the 'belt buckle' is perhaps another <i>questionable </i>feature, since it's a heart... <i>sitting right in the middle of her pelvis</i>. Honestly, I wouldn't have been surprised if they'd given her a tramp stamp. Maybe one of the waterslide decals could do <i>that </i>job.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A cute feature of Nicee - <i>which didn't work as well on the final product as it appeared on the early promo shots</i> - was the ability to tab the vehicle's front fenders into the backpack at waist level, giving her the appearance of a billowing skirt. That is still <i>possible </i>with Mooka... <i>but it works even less well here than on the original figure</i>. The ball joints appear to be on much <i>shorter </i>stalks, and the adjustments to the fender sculpt means they seem to end up <i>higher up</i> on her waist, and can't <i>wrap around</i> her hips as effectively. The joint also feels much <i>tighter</i>, so I'm rather reluctant to make much use of this feature on Mooka.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One of the <i>major </i>differences between Mooka and Nicee is the fact that <i>more </i>of her backpack is <i>designed </i>to be removeable - <i>the lower part is effectively on a C-clip, which allows her back to be fully exposed and the removed parts to be repurposed more easily</i>. Also, while it's perfectly <i>possible </i>to clip the small bow/bunny-tail accessory while she's wearing her full backpack, it's largely obscured from most angles, so removing the backpack allows her to show it off properly. On the <i>downside</i>, clipping the accessory on in the first place is a bit of a pain, <i>and there's a very real chance of it scratching the paint on her 'belt', particularly the small dashes of metallic pink on each side</i>. Additionally, the dangling ends of the 'ribbon' are attached via slim pegs into <i>very tight sockets</i>... and, given that the plastic feels a little <i>flimsy</i>, I am concerned that these parts are a breakage risk. Like Nicee, Mooka is also packaged with an alternative chest piece... of the 'squishy' variety... However, since the rubber part is <i>white </i>and the collar plate painted <i>silver</i>, it doesn't suit the figure anywhere near as well as the stock, <i>solid </i>chest piece, so I've not even bothered getting it out of the packaging. Sadly, I didn't order from the right stockist, and certainly not early enough, to obtain the special cat ears... I <i>kind of</i> wish I had them, because they <i>do </i>look really cute... but I don't mind living without.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Weapons-wise, there have been <i>substantial </i>changes made for this release. Mooka comes packaged with <i>two </i>short swords which can be wielded individually <i>or </i>attached to each other via a dedicated central grip. For storage, these can slot inside the new shield (<i>which doesn't form part of the car</i>) even while she's wearing it on either arm. The shield can additionally be attached to either <i>leg</i>, via the circular socket on the outer faces of her calves but, while that certainly <i>looks </i>cool, it's not exactly <i>practical</i>. It's of a simple but elegant design, about buckler size, <i>because it only covers her forearm</i>, yet mostly kite-shaped, but for being rather more <i>convex</i>, since it wraps <i>around </i>the forearm. It's painted <i>mainly </i>silver, with metallic pink spikes poking in from the corners of the frame, while the frame itself left unpainted, as the dark aubergine plastic. The roof/canopy section of the car can <i>also</i> be used as a shield but, whichever way round it goes, the size makes it rather <i>unwieldy</i> compared to either Nicee's version or, <i>perhaps more importantly</i>, the separate shield accessory. Her <i>other </i>hand weapon is a lance designed to look like a folded-down umbrella (<i>the most obvious Racing Queen reference in the set</i>) which she can wield one- <i>or </i>two-handed. <i>Finally</i>, the back end of the car and her two metallic pink 'tails' can combine to form a cannon of some kind, which mounts on either arm, <i>but requires the removal of the hand to make the wrist socket available</i>. Because of the <i>length </i>of the tails, it's another quite unwieldy accessory, making it difficult for her to bend her elbows, <i>quite apart from the fact that it's fiddly to put together in the first place due to the shape of the parts and the position of the connecting tabs/slots</i>. Curiously, the set <i>does </i>include the small handle attachment that turns the front of vehicle mode into a sort of bow-shaped weapon, <i>as with Nicee</i>, but no 'arrow' was included here, the resculpted parts don't sit as comfortably in that configuration, <i>and I don't even think she's packaged with the right spare hands to hold it properly</i>... I certainly couldn't get it to work, and got more than a little frustrated <i>trying</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The default head sculpt is very pretty - using a mixture of the dark plastic, silver paint and a few translucent pink highlights. The 'hair' style is similar to Nicee's, but more smoothly <i>curved</i>, and featuring some translucent pink highlights at the temples, as well as her model number - <i>01 PLUS</i> - stamped on her fringe, while the tiara is a cute addition, fitting the overall look of the figure <i>perfectly</i>. Her face has much the same bland expression as Nicee's <i>standard </i>face, but the silver paint is an improvement in <i>presentation</i>, in my opinion. This sculpt has the same issue of having a 'dead-eyed' look as Nicee, thanks to the use of translucent turquoise plastic <i>without </i>a light-piping channel and, on Mooka, it doesn't seem to be quite so easy to light them by reflection <i>from the front</i>. The translucent pink glasses <i>are </i>a cool addition, and look great <i>when they actually decide to stay put</i>. The fringe has to be <i>removed </i>to fit them, and it never seems to fit back on <i>securely </i>while they're there, <i>leading to both falling off at the slightest touch</i>, so I tend to leave the glasses <i>off</i>. The alternate head reminds me a little of Shermie from the <i>King of Fighters</i> games, because of the super-dense fringe completely concealing her eyes - <i>which are actually present, as translucent plastic, just like on the default head</i>. It's very much the <i>plainer</i> of the two, because it's mostly silver with only a <i>band </i>of metallic pink running from side to side, and on the rims of her 'ears'. <i>Both </i>heads can accommodate the bunny ears, but they're very <i>delicate </i>parts with <i>small, awkwardly-shaped</i> tabs, and it's difficult to get a firm connection into <i>either</i> head. However, the fact that they are articulated - <i>via a double-hinge about halfway up</i> - adds to both their expressiveness and their <i>darned-cuteness</i>. It's also worth mentioning that there's a loose bow tie accessory on her neck, which looks super-cute with either head in place.</div>
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<br />
<div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>Given that more of Mooka's backpack can be removed, <i>should one so desire</i>, and that some of her accessories <i>must </i>be removed for transformation, the process of transforming her can be a little more complicated than Nicee. That said,
I would add that I found her slightly <i>easier </i>to transform in terms to
getting the <i>front </i>of vehicle mode lined up, but <i>more difficult</i> in terms of
getting the robot's arms and legs fully pegged into place on the <i>underside</i>. In
particular, it feels as though the hip joints are <i>asymmetrical</i>, leaving the
lower torso at a slight angle, while the shoulder joints are tighter and
more awkward, <i>with fussier shoulder armour</i>. She can transform with either head in place, and</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Articulation is, <i>again</i>, very little different. The feet have been resculpted
slightly in terms of their detailing and, <i>for some reason</i>, I find the heel
more difficult to line up with the <i>front </i>of the foot. Additionally the backpack feels marginally heavier
than Nicee's, meaning Mooka is <i>slightly </i>more difficult to pose <i>without </i>a stand, <i>and </i>has a greater tendency to fall over backwards. <i>Compensating </i>for this is simplicity itself, however. The legs just
have to be angled further <i>backward </i>from the hips to shift her centre of gravity slightly
<i>forward </i>from the backpack. The redesigned pauldrons offer an improvement in the range of her shoulders, but it's not a <i>huge</i> change. Nevertheless, <i>as can be seen from my photos</i>, she is capable of adopting some very dynamic and dramatic poses, making for a very striking display piece.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, clearly <i>Mooka is not a TransFormers analogue of any kind</i> and, by some metrics, she's <i>barely </i>a transforming robot at all. One could be <i>generous </i>and suggest that her colourscheme might be a veiled homage to the <i>Go-Bot</i> Crasher, but that's a bit of a stretch, if you ask me. The choice of heads is a <i>decent </i>substitute for the difference faces offered by Nicee, and the new accessories are well crafted and implemented, making her well worth picking up even if, <i>like me</i>, one already has Nicee in one's collection. </div><div><br /></div><div>No doubt Mooka with meet a similar <i>divisive</i> response. <i>Some </i>will complain about the overtly sexualised design, despite that <i>still </i>being a perfectly valid artistic choice on Big Firebird's part. <i>Some </i>will like it for precisely that reason. <i>Some </i>will just ignore it, because it's not analogous to an <i>existing </i>TransFormers character. The bottom line, though, is that <i>she's a damned fine example of a Femme-Bot</i> and, seriously, I can't get over how <i>gorgeous </i>the aubergine-coloured plastic is.</div><div><br /></div><div>...And I still need to get my girlfriend to write that Femme-Bots opinion piece...</div>
</div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-10207695666573307912023-01-28T22:28:00.006+00:002023-01-29T08:36:45.649+00:00War for Cybertron Trilogy Covert Agent Ravage/Decepticons Forever Ravage<div style="text-align: left;">
Every so often, <i>even now</i>, a set of TransFormers toys comes along that
has the <i>potential </i>to get me excited. Whether it's something
<i>new and unique</i>, or simply a repaint into a favourite character, Hasbro
<i>sometimes </i>manages transcend the current mediocrity of their products...
<i>and this was once such set</i>.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It excited me because I was interested in the <i>Beast Wars Metals</i> Jaguar -
the 1999 Japan-only retooling of <i>Transmetals </i>Cheetor into the
Tripredacus Agent seen in the three-part Season 2 finale of Mainframe's
seminal <i>Beast Wars</i> television series - but the toy, <i>frankly</i>, looks a
bit crappy and, these days, tends to be <i>very </i> expensive on the
secondary market, with some sellers asking <i>over £350</i> for the boxed
figure.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Hasbro's <i>new </i>version, released in 2021, didn't <i>quite </i>hit all the
right notes for me and, <i>at its full asking price of £49</i>, was an easy
pass. However, during their Advent Calendar sale, they dropped the price by
50%, and I felt almost <i>obliged </i>to order, just to have <i>a </i>version
of such a fantastic reimagining of <i>G1 </i>Ravage, even though the
<i>accompanying </i>part of the set would be possibly the <i>fourth </i>copy
of the actual <i>G1 </i>Ravage toy that I've owned.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
But was it a worthwhile investment,<i> even at half price</i>? Read on, and
find out!
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span><a name='more'></a></span><b><u>Packaging:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
There are <i>apparently </i>some signs that this was intended to be a San
Diego Comic Con exclusive in 2021 but,
<i>with the event's cancellation due to the global pandemic</i>, Hasbro
decided to repurpose the product as a Pulse exclusive. The packaging looks
fantastic, with the toys arranged against a backdrop depicting the cockpit of
Ravage's spacecraft from the <i>Beast Wars</i> TV show - the new
<i>Kingdom </i>figure roughly centred in the window, with the <i>G1 </i>toy in
tape form suspended over a slot in the console. This is in reference to the
scene where Ravage attempts to preserve himself by transforming in to his
ancient microcassette mode and stashing himself in his craft's command console
- <i>essentially becoming a black box recording</i> which was referenced in
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2020/06/alternators-battle-ravage-chevrolet.html" target="_blank"><i>Binaltech/Alternators</i></a>. On the far left of the window are all the accessories - two handguns for
the 'new' Ravage, and two chromed missile launchers for the original.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The <i>one </i>side of the box features a close-up of Ravage himself, <i>cropped from the
image on the back</i>, with a short text story on the <i>other</i>, serving as a
precis of his backstory as related in the TV show. The back of the box
features a <i>fantastic </i>image, depicting in a single frame the scene from <i>The Agenda (Part 3)</i>, in which a defiant Ravage cries out <i>"Decepticons forever!"</i> before
transforming and stowing himself in the ship's control centre.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Much like <i>Studio Series</i>, the idea behind this packaging is to use the inner
backdrop as a <i>display stand</i>... but such things just aren't <i>practical </i>for my
setup, so it's going to stay in the box... <i>which I may end up throwing away</i>. This is a bit of a shame... but I did at least manage to recreate the scene <i>with the toys themselves</i>, once I removed them from the plastic shell they're mounted in.</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggymRs5NguuP3Q77GfpBtfjOMPEpFRIWp7LlC5U8xIdF1uhRJ9CUrl86kKVwqsV1tvMjLpbu-phSULpkybDuRogyor7hx53R9xUO1Cu17B3Ja1m4yS-pAnGAGLOyzmUatmqlJN9GnzUWtAG0vMoCsRIMSCuLXl-zFShTr66fvrgNxPafQKTsdPzdj7/s3264/IMG_5634.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggymRs5NguuP3Q77GfpBtfjOMPEpFRIWp7LlC5U8xIdF1uhRJ9CUrl86kKVwqsV1tvMjLpbu-phSULpkybDuRogyor7hx53R9xUO1Cu17B3Ja1m4yS-pAnGAGLOyzmUatmqlJN9GnzUWtAG0vMoCsRIMSCuLXl-zFShTr66fvrgNxPafQKTsdPzdj7/w200-h150/IMG_5634.JPG" width="200" /></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc_LaSvPfG02-cFZKlEnrWiNP0icBdtRFWVEhQmTtCQeRG-Ku9ARgvhStM3OnIVQYddxMrcD-dEpPtBR4XTRPL65oerbgvNHk5Vu29lJpEF0Q2-rpmil2myycVDbj6ZYEuI3M6kxRZVRfTrsIDu3-UqfXIzc5CmRVCto8mqxLoOE6WiM6RgjOoTiin/s3264/IMG_5641.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc_LaSvPfG02-cFZKlEnrWiNP0icBdtRFWVEhQmTtCQeRG-Ku9ARgvhStM3OnIVQYddxMrcD-dEpPtBR4XTRPL65oerbgvNHk5Vu29lJpEF0Q2-rpmil2myycVDbj6ZYEuI3M6kxRZVRfTrsIDu3-UqfXIzc5CmRVCto8mqxLoOE6WiM6RgjOoTiin/w200-h150/IMG_5641.JPG" width="200" /></a>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Covert Agent Ravage</span></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Beast Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
There's no doubt that, <i>with this toy as well as the original it's based upon</i>,
beast mode is the obvious loser <i>in almost every respect</i>. This version is,
perhaps, <i>marginally tidier</i> than the toy from just before the turn of the millennium, but
there's a sense of 'swings and roundabouts'. The original, <i>due to the altered
engineering required to retain the beast mode head in robot mode</i>, had its
robot mode arms hanging off its beast mode belly. <i>This </i>one leaves the robot
mode <i>chest </i>fully exposed on the beast's underside... <i>but also leaves the
robot's thighs and feet exposed</i>. The latter are <i>less egregious</i> simply by being
fairly small and, <i>from most angles</i>, pretty unobtrusive. The former are
<i>pearly off-white, armoured chunks</i> on an otherwise <i>black</i>-furred feline. No amount of
fur texture on the black plastic <i>surrounding </i>them can disguise <i>or </i>distract
from them. They are <i>an inorganic eyesore</i> on what would otherwise be a <i>reasonably competent</i> sculpt.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Looking at them a certain way, one <i>could </i>choose to see them as references to
the missile launchers on <i>G1 </i>Ravage... but for the fact that they come with
sockets to holster the <i>handguns </i>provided with this toy. These are actually
<i>intended </i>to mount backwards - <i>with the barrels pointing behind him</i> - as if
they're rocket engines in this form. This could easily be the intention, as <i>Transmetals </i>Cheetor was able to deploy wings with rocket engines, and this feature <i>did </i>carry over to Ravage, <i>despite the very small chance that anyone would ever choose to lark about with the toy in its beast mode</i>. While the guns <i>can </i>mount forward, they
end up pointing slightly downward, <i>and directly at his own forelegs</i>, so
they're certainly not going to be useful as <i>weapons </i>in this form.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Disappointingly, there is no paintwork on this figure that is <i>specific </i>to
beast mode... but then, as I'll get into later, <i>there's precious little
paintwork at all</i>.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It should also be noted that, <i>in package</i>, Ravage's beast mode forelegs are
attached to the wrong sides - as evidenced by the more <i>bulbous </i>side facing
<i>backward</i>. Thankfully, they're mounted on ball joints, so it is a simple matter
to swap them.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
As with the original toy, the beast mode head sculpt becomes the robot mode
head sculpt via <i>minimal </i>transformation so, rather than write about it <i>here</i>,
I'll go into that detail at the tail end of the Robot Mode segment...
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Robot Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><i>
Oh dear</i>...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Given that this figure is a retooling/re-engineering of <i>War For
Cybertron: Kingdom</i> Cheetor - <i>a figure which I decided against buying because
it looks terrible</i> - I suppose it would have been foolish to expect <i>this </i>to be
a marked improvement. Sure enough, as with the <i>Beast Wars Metals</i> toy, this
figure makes <i>a whole new load of sacrifices</i> in an attempt to represent the CGI
character. Most notably, while <i>Kingdom </i>Cheetor's beast torso opens out and has the forelegs on the splayed-out 'wings' <i>behind </i>the robot's shoulders, this toy simply has them <i>fold onto the back</i>, where they <i>partially </i>slot into the voids left over by exposing the robot's <i>arms</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This <i>alone </i>wouldn't be too bad - after all, the original <i>Beast Wars Metals</i> toy had its beast mode legs form part of a bulky backpack, poking up over his shoulders - but <i>another </i>change was made to Cheetor's engineering. The designer(s) who adapted the mold into Ravage decided to affix his beast mode tail <i>via a pinned hinge</i>... so, where Cheetor could <i>detach </i>his tail and use it as a crude axe/whip type of weapon, the best one can do with Ravage is <i>hinge </i>his tail back 90° so it's not visible <i>from the front</i>. Unfortunately, from any <i>other </i>angle, it's painfully apparent, <i>and wastes shelf space by sticking out even further than his beast mode forelegs</i>. What's really baffling, though, is that <i>one more</i> hinge - <i>or just greater range of movement on the existing hinge</i> - could have allowed it to fold right up onto his back. This appears to be at least <i>partially </i>as a result of Cheetor simply not having the hinged <i>butt-flap</i> present on the <i>larger-format</i> <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2022/02/war-for-cybertron-kingdom-tigatron.html" target="_blank">Tigatron</a> mold. I <i>accept </i>that a free-dangling tail is wholly accurate to the CGI, <i>but it still looks like crap</i>. What's <i>really </i>crazy about this, though, is that the axe/whip tail weapon given to <i>Kingdom </i>Cheetor is <i>derived </i>from the <i>Transmetals </i>toy... <i>so it would have been a more appropriate accessory for this figure than it ever was for Cheetor</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Like <i>Kingdom </i>Cheetor, Ravage has comparatively <i>spindly </i>arms, but his forearms look <i>shorter </i>and <i>flatter</i> than those of his forebear. Aside from the unique <i>thigh </i>sculpts, the legs are functionally identical to Cheetor, meaning the shins don't <i>compress </i>quite so much as Tigatron's, and his feet are disproportionately <i>small</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The <i>bulk </i>of the paintwork appears to be on the thighs and upper arms, both of which are coated with the pearlescent off-white paint, with additional details on the <i>fronts </i>of the thighs picked out in gold. The torso is <i>largely </i>bare black plastic with a sort of <i>cybernetically enhanced humanoid</i> physique, including defined pectoral chunks and a sort of pipework effect on the sides of the waist. He has a sweeping band and a separate <i>blob </i>of pearlescent paint toward the collar, and a raised crescent of gold-ish paint below his robo-pecs, while the 'buckle' detail on his 'belt' features a red-painted jewel in a rectangular pearlescent frame. The original toy had an <i>additional </i>feature in that the chest could open up to reveal his spark chamber. That wasn't an option <i>here </i>due to the way the torso was engineered for his transformation. <i>None </i>of the robotic detail below the knee is painted in, <i>but this at least matches the original toy</i>. While it's nice to have <i>some </i>unique sculpted detail on his torso and thighs, the fact that the lower legs weren't also redesigned adds to the impression that this is <i>a pretty lazy retool</i>. He does, however, have the Predacon insignia tattood on his left shoulder... but it's <i>red</i>, which should normally make him a <i>Shattered Glass</i> Predacon... but the red symbol is consistent with the CGI.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The approach to his weapons is very much <i>cut down</i> versus the older toy. Where the original had little truncheons that would peg into <i>spring-loaded, flip-out pistol grips</i> mounted on its forearms, <i>WFCT </i>Ravage simply has two pistols, molded in black plastic, and with silver-painted barrels. They look pretty decent and, if nothing else, <i>are not the hollow/waffle-like mess that some TransFormers weapons have become in recent years</i>. They also appear to be <i>reasonably </i>true to the TV show's CGI, even down to the underslung laser sights, which is something that <i>cannot </i>be said for the original toy. They have 5mm grips for his hands, but can be 'holstered' on his thighs and, <i>frankly</i>, look better there in robot mode than they <i>ever </i>can in beast mode.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The head sculpt is one of the main things that originally <i>put me off</i> buying this figure. It's not that it's <i>bad</i>, per se, though the fur texture looks a little too <i>soft </i>and<i> indistinct</i>. It's not even that it's not <i>accurate </i>to the CGI - <i>in those terms, it's only inaccurate by being excessively textured</i>. The problem is that it's <i>so </i>accurate to the CGI, it doesn't look like a real feline head: the nose is suitably short, but it <i>droops</i>. The head, <i>overall</i>, looks reasonable when viewed <i>at a distance and from the side</i>. Face-on, it looks like the result of a <i>failed </i>attempt at taxidermy. His eyes are <i>wide, yet beady</i>, like the <i>bulbous, unlidded</i> eyes of a teddy-bear sewn into the oddly-shaped recesses below his thick brow. He also has a weird pearlescent skullcap that, <i>while 100% true to the CGI</i>, is a <i>misinterpretation </i>of a detail on the toy that extended down the back of his head and neck, into his collar. I like that his mouth opens, and the fact that both his teeth <i>and </i>his 'tongue' are painted <i>really </i>improves the look of the figure... but the <i>position </i>of the jaw hinge is unnatural, and it doesn't <i>move </i>a great deal.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">As mentioned above, Ravage is a re-working of the <i>Kingdom </i>Cheetor mold and, <i>below the waist</i>, his transformation is essentially <i>identical </i>- the beast mode's rear, lower legs fold up to form the robot's <i>bulging </i>shins, and the feet fold out from the calves. <i>Above </i>the waist, it's very much simplified, with the chest opening down to allow the robot's arms to move in <i>or </i>out, and the beast's front legs <i>flipping back on each side</i>. The very front of the beast mode's chest slips <i>inside </i>the chest once the arms are deployed, and the head essentially <i>stays where it is</i>, just at a different <i>angle</i>. I suspect it's <i>marginally </i>more involved than the original, <i>not least because the robot's arms have to line up with two entirely separate slots on his back when transforming back into beast mode</i>. That's also perhaps a <i>slight </i>improvement on <i>Kingdom </i>Cheetor, whose arms simply lay back along his underside, <i>with his hands left exposed just in front of his back legs</i>. The trade-off is that the beast mode's <i>front </i>legs aren't quite so elegantly handled, draping off his back behind his thighs, while the tail, <i>as previously mentioned</i>, simply swings up or down, and becomes quite an eyesore in robot mode.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">Of course, the cut-down transformation means that he doesn't have the 'wings', made out of the beast mode's chest, <i>restricting </i>the movement of his arms. Thus freed, they can rotate a full 360°, and swing up and outward through a range of 180°. His elbows are <i>double-jointed</i> for transformation, and he has unrestricted bicep <i>and </i>wrist rotation. He has waist rotation but, <i>surprisingly</i>, it stops at about 90° in either direction, rather than being unrestricted 360° rotation, <i>and I can't for the life of me understand why</i>. Where Tigatron has upper thigh rotation to supplement his well-articulated hips, Ravage follows Cheetor's pattern, <i>despite the remolded thighs</i>. As a result, his legs can swing back <i>just a few degrees</i> before butting up against the <i>solid </i>lower back/tail section, but forward and out by 90°. The only rotation joint in his legs is joint located just above the knee, which <i>works </i>well enough, but leads to the legs looking a little <i>strange </i>in the more extreme poses. The knee itself offers more <i>forward </i>range than backward, granting about 90° forwards, <i>into the legs' beast mode configuration</i>, but only about 45° of <i>true </i>knee bend for robot mode. The ankles can tilt forward <i>and </i>backward due to transformation, as well as tilting inward by about 90° for solid foot placement in a variety of poses. The head is on a ball joint that offers <i>barely any</i> tilt, and its rotation is <i>seriously </i>hindered by the raised collar. He does pose very well, to be fair, but there's a strong sense of <i>"it could have been better"</i>, and both the arms <i>and </i>legs tend to look weird, <i>regardless of the pose</i>, simply due to their bizarre construction.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Beast mode is the <i>more </i>disappointing of the two, <i>largely because of the shortcomings of the original Cheetor toy</i>. The back legs can angle <i>backward</i> easily enough, but the fullest extent of their <i>forward </i>movement leaves them <i>perpendicular </i>to the body. The lower part can move forward <i>and </i>backward well enough, <i>but there are very few positions that look natural thanks to the lack of mobility in the thigh</i>, and then the foot is mounted on a ball joint. The front legs fare <i>somewhat </i>better, with 360° rotation around a ball joint mounted <i>a little too high on the shoulder</i>, but the elbow seems to have greater range when bending <i>backward </i>than forward - <i>which might explain why the front legs are reversed on the stock figure</i> - and the front feet are <i>also </i>mounted on ball joints. The head manages to retain <i>some </i>of its mobility, but it can't quite raise <i>high </i>enough for a natural, forward-facing posture when it's turned to either side. There's <i>certainly </i>no way to get Covert Agent Ravage <i>sat at attention </i>in beast mode.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Overall, I don't think this is a particularly great figure</i>... In some respects, it's substantially better than the <i>Beast Wars Metals</i> toy that inspired it. However, it's a <i>lazily re-engineered </i>version of an <i>already poorly-engineered</i> update to Cheetor. To be honest, I think it's also entirely the wrong size class. It's difficult to be sure from his fleeting appearances alongside other characters in the TV show, but I suspect a (<i>slightly downsized?</i>) version of Tigatron's basic engineering would have been the better starting point, <i>even it it couldn't remain a true Voyager class figure</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Decepticons Forever Ravage</span></b>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Microcassette Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">I have very fond memories of acquiring and playing with my original <i>G1 </i>Ravage, to the point where most of his joints are probably now <i>horribly </i>loose. I had <i>another </i>copy in the Toys'R'Us <i>Classics</i>-branded <i>Commemorative Edition</i> rerelease of <i>G1 </i>Soundwave from 2007 (<i>essentially a Soundblaster repaint packaged with Ravage and Laserbeak which I sold off a few years ago</i>), and then acquired <i>another </i>in the 2009 <i>Encore </i>set, along with Buzzsaw and Blaster's two <i>humanoid </i>cassettes, Eject and Rewind... So this makes the <i>fourth </i>iteration of <i>G1 </i>Ravage in my collection and... <i>honestly, it's a mixed bag</i>. It's the same <i>mold</i>, obviously, and retains the <i>G1 </i>toy's die cast metal parts... but the paintwork is down to single-colour - <i>silver labelling tampographed onto each side, and looking quite untidy where it appears over robot detailing on his left side</i>. There's an interesting <i>plus </i>to this mode - that the spool details are highlighted with silver paint - but that comes with <i>a horrific minus</i>... The tape 'window' - a label on the original and the <i>Encore </i>re-release - is just <i>a pattern of curves stamped in the same silver paint</i>. I'm not sure whether or not <i>some </i>kind of tape paintwork is <i>preferable </i>to the weird Fortress Maximus schematic sticker that appeared on the <i>Commemorative Edition</i> version, but I certainly think it looks <i>cheap </i>and <i>ugly</i>.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u><br /></u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Robot Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">This may seem strange, but I am inclined to think of <i>G1 </i>Ravage as possibly being <i>the greatest TransFormers toy of all time</i>, taking age, size <i>and </i>complexity into account. He's <i>incredibly </i>well-designed for a toy that essentially turns into a <i>rectangle</i>, and looks more like a cat in his <i>robot </i>mode than some more recent kitty-formers - <i>Covert Agent Ravage included</i> - in their <i>beast </i>modes. Granted, he's a little... er... <i>slender </i>when viewed from the front and back, but he remains the best-looking version in his robot mode. Sure, the <i>Classics </i>version packaged with <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/classics-deluxe-hound-with-ravage.html" target="_blank">Hound</a> and the <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2018/12/masterpiece-cassetticons-rumble-frenzy.html" target="_blank"><i>Masterpiece </i>version</a> both do a good job of <i>bulking him out</i>, and the latter may be <i>technically </i>better articulated, but I still prefer this one. I'm sure it's <i>not </i>just a case of nostalgia colouring my perceptions... there is just <i>something </i>about this figure that holds my interest better than <i>any </i>of the more recent reimaginings. Not least, the <i>Masterpiece </i>version feels far more <i>fragile</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">That said, <i>this particular version</i> is a bit of a let-down thanks to its cheap-looking paint job. I don't know why they felt it necessary to plaster silver over <i>both </i>sides, when just painting in some of the mechanical detailing - <i>in that tiny section of the belly on his left side</i> - could have been far more effective. <i>All </i>the <i>G1 </i>cassettes were designed to have <i>one </i>face to make visible in Soundwave's chest as 'cassette mode', and the <i>other </i>to be their robot mode and, <i>in Ravage's case</i>, it was originally left mostly <i>unpainted</i>. There might be a <i>sticker</i> or a <i>rubsign </i>on his left shoulder, <i>but that would be it</i>. Granted, this figure <i>does </i>have a Decepticon insignia stamped on the left shoulder... but it's <i>tiny</i>, and all but <i>invisible </i>on the background of silver paint.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I was <i>very </i>pleased to see that his missile launchers were chromed - <i>had these been molded in either plain grey (or, worse still, black) plastic, I would have been very disappointed</i> - but, <i>equally</i>, I would probably have <i>accepted </i>silver paint of they'd added the red missile tips from his original box art. Hell, for the red missile tips, I <i>might </i>even have been OK with unpainted grey plastic... <i>Just this once</i>...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">What's disappointing is that the eyes appear to be <i>more </i>silver paint on this version where, on the original, I believe it was either <i>gold chrome</i> or <i>tiny gold foil stickers</i>. Either yellow or red paint (<i>the latter referencing the G1 cartoon's insistence that all Decepticons should have red eyes</i>) would have been infinitely preferable as, while the silver paint doesn't exactly <i>blend in</i>, it also doesn't <i>stand out</i> especially well. It's nice to see this mold appears to be in good condition, after all these years - sculpted details are clean and sharp throughout.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Transformation is simple and <i>eternally elegant</i> - the head swings back over the shoulders, the tail swings forward to lock it in place, the front legs tuck in under the belly and the back legs fold in below them... <i>G1 </i>Ravage makes for an <i>excellent </i>fidget toy, if you ask me, and serves as <i>ample </i>proof that TransFormers toys don't need to be <i>super-intricate</i>, with 80+ transformation steps, to be <i>good, fun toys</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Where the <i>G1 </i>toy really shines is its articulation. The <i>front </i>legs have a range of about 90° at the shoulder, 180° at the elbow, and 90° at the wrist, while the <i>back </i>legs manage about 110-120° at the upper joint, perhaps as much as 270° at the lower, and the feet can manage about 180°. The tail swings through about 180° for transformation, while the neck manages a little <i>more</i>, allowing Ravage to adopt a <i>proper </i>'seated' pose <i>without forcing him to look up</i>. What struck me about this toy - handling a <i>G1 </i>Ravage extensively for what must be the first time since I sold on my <i>Commemorative Edition</i> set - was that the articulation of the back legs succeeds by <i>ignoring the hip joint</i>: the <i>upper </i>joint is the <i>knee</i>. Thus, the small, <i>plastic</i> section of the back leg that offers mobility is the <i>shin</i>, allowing for far more <i>natural </i>quadruped posing, and the characteristic <i>skulking, stalking</i> posture of a cat.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>G1 </i>Ravage gets a lot of stick for being difficult to stand but, <i>in the almost 40 years I've had one</i>, I've rarely had any problem getting him to remain upright in <i>any </i>pose supported by <i>all four paws</i>. It's likely that one's mileage may vary, however, because <i>there are signs of mold flashing on the underside of his paws</i>... and if they're not <i>perfectly </i>flat, they won't be truly <i>stable</i>. For most purposes, in fact, I find that he stands well enough if his back feet are firmly planted, and just <i>one </i>of his front paws is touching the ground in some way, <i>particularly with the added weight of his missile launchers at his back end</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><i>So</i>, now we come back to the question of whether this set was <i>worth </i>the £24.50 + shipping I paid, <i>let alone the £49 original RRP</i>... </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>And that's a difficult question</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'd really <i>like </i>to give an emphatically positive response, but I suspect my fondness for <i>G1 </i>Ravage and the fun I've had fiddling with, posing and photographing the mold again is making me feel more warmly toward the set <i>as a whole</i>. If I remember correctly, <i>Siege </i>Battle Masters sold for about £5 each, so I wouldn't want to have paid more than about £10 for 'Decepticons Forever' Ravage <i>on his own</i>. That being the case, Covert Agent Ravage works out at £14.50 thanks to Hasbro's pre-Christmas discount, at a time when their <i>standard </i>Deluxe price has reached about £25. By that metric, paying 50p <i>less </i>than that for <i>both </i>toys is an absolute <i>bargain</i>... but, unfortunately, <i>it doesn't make me feel any better about Covert Agent Ravage in and of himself</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Had he been adapted from the larger Tigatron mold, the greater <i>mass </i>allowing for greater <i>finesse </i>in the re-engineering, this version of Ravage <i>could </i>have been fantastic. As it stands, it manages to exceed even the original <i>Kingdom </i>Cheetor mold in its abject <i>mediocrity</i>. That said, I do find that I am glad to finally own <i>an analogue</i> of the original <i>Beast Wars Metals</i> toy, at a small fraction of that toy's current asking price on the secondary market. The fact that I paid just <i>half </i>the RRP for this set sweetens that even further... and, with this version in my collection, <i>be it ever so flawed</i>, I no longer feel <i>any </i>urge to chase the <i>BWM </i>toy.</div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-78831166421006680472022-12-31T23:59:02.632+00:002023-01-01T10:32:09.037+00:002022 Retrospective<div style="text-align: left;">
I realised this year that, over the course of the last few annual
retrospective posts, it has metamorphosed from a set of lists -<i>
highlights, disappointments, etc.</i>
- with a brief introduction, into <i>a massive wall of text</i> detailing some events from the year and going off on various tangents, followed by
the standard lists...
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
...This has become increasingly difficult -
<i>not to say downright depressing</i> - to work on, even when I start early
in the year and continually add to it, because there's often an update to
<i>specific </i>information that necessitates great swathes of the wall of
text to be <i>rewritten</i>, sometimes more than once. It's been enough of a
struggle to work on regular blog posts -
<i>writing about the toys I've been collecting since the 1980s</i> - which,
over the course of most of this year, I just haven't been enjoying as much as
I used to. I managed a decent number of posts in September but, overall, this has been <i>the leanest year since I first started this blog!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
As a result, this year, I'm going back to basics, and <i>just </i>presenting the
lists. <i>Honestly</i>, if you'd seen the original, <i>full </i>version of this post about
this <i>dumpster fire</i> of a year, you'd be thanking me right now.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">So, without further ado...</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /><b><span><a name='more'></a></span>Highlights of 2022</b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<b>A Christmas Carol</b> - Courtney and I saw posters for Stephen Mangan
starring in this production - an adaptation of Dickens' original story by
Jack Thorne (creator of one of my favourite - all-too-short-lived - TV
shows, <i>The Fades</i>) at the Old Vic. We <i>tried </i>to book
tickets <i>ahead </i>of Christmas, but had to settle for early in the New
Year... but perhaps this was <i>fortunate </i>for us, because we were
notified on the day that our tickets (<i>for one of the galleries</i>) had
been upgraded, and we were then to be seated in the stalls,
<i>and in the front-row, no less</i>. While I'm not necessarily a
<i>fan </i>of Mangan (most of his TV roles have tended to be as pretty
irritating characters, but his <i>Dirk Gently</i> was far truer to the
books than the bizarre US version), I thought his performance as Scrooge
was perfect, and this show will rank as one of the best theatre
experiences I've ever had. The stage layout was excellent, the special
effects were clever (<i>the 'snow' had me giggling like crazy</i>), the
live music was great and the performances were all fantastic. The
gathering of the feast at the end was a fun bit of audience interaction,
too. We also got mince pies on the way in, which helped set the mood. On a
random note, it occurred to me that Stephen Mangan with his Scrooge beard
could pass for Joe Manganiello's substantially less muscular brother...
</li>
<li>
<b>Whodunnit [Unrehearsed]</b> - in which Johnny Vegas played the
detective. Given the list of actors invited to perform in this role, Vegas
wouldn't have been my first choice (had a choice been offered), but he did
remarkably well, and his impassioned speech about the importance of the
Arts in the post-show Q&A showed me a side of him that I'd never seen
before.
</li>
<li>
<b>My Dad Wrote A Porno Live</b> - I'd gone into this expecting a simple
recording of a podcast episode, but their live shows are apparently all
quite different. This one was a 'Choose Your Own Adventures' version of
Rocky Flintstone's trash-epic about improbable sexual hi-jinks, and was
quite good fun. This year (sadly?) marked the conclusion of the
podcast...
</li>
<li>
<b>Phantom Peak</b> - Since the first COVID lockdowns back in 2020,
I've barely seen my best mate. We <i>finally </i>met up to
see <i>Top Gun: Maverick</i> when that hit cinemas in June, but
then didn't see each other again till September, when he invited me along
to the new-ish 'Open World Immersive Experience' known as <i>Phantom Peak</i>. Located around Surrey Quays, it's a sort of Steampunk Western thing,
where you use an app to keep track of your progress on a number of quests
based around the small mining town. I'd <i>tried </i>to get
Courtney interested months before, with no luck... but she changed her
tune when I returned with a <i>glowing </i>review of the
experience.
</li>
<li>
<b>RetCon </b>- back to June this year, and on
a <i>comparatively</i> cool and clement day after about a week
of <i>uncomfortable heatwave</i>, this one turned into a sort of
unofficial West London SAM Coupé Expo thanks to the presence of Quazar and
the programmer behind the SAM version of <i>Treasure Island Dizzy</i> (and hopefully <i>Fantasy World Dizzy</i>, later) along with
my usual cohorts. We were even visited by one of the level designers
for <i>The Lower Caverns</i>. Considering how much the event has
grown since its inception, it went very smoothly and there was a lot of
positive feedback throughout the day and on social media in the days
after. Naturally, the appearance of the Oliver Twins (<i>or one of them, at least, as the other was ill</i>) on top billing was a significant coup for what had previously been a
comparatively small, relatively insignificant local retro gaming event,
which featured regular appearances by the former head of Commodore UK and
the occasional YouTuber as a guest. Interesting to see where we go next
year!
</li>
<li>
<b>A wedding in the family</b> - Courtney's sister had been engaged
for a couple of years because there were certain specific elements she
wanted for her wedding day, and the venue that could
accommodate <i>all </i>of them had no availability for weddings
till this July. The day went very well, <i>even though they had their boisterous dog as the
ringbearer</i>, and it was nice to be away from London for a short while. We
travelled there and back via <i>coach </i>rather than train, and found it to be a
much more pleasant experience overall.
</li><li><b>A new shower</b> - my old one had been leaking for years, getting very slowly worse, to the point where quite a lot of water was just <i>gushing </i>out of the bottom of the unit and, around October/November, even trickling out around the temperature control dial. This was first noticed by Courtney, who reported feeling a tingle when she moved the dial... <i>which sounded a bit dangerous to me</i>. My folks kindly bought a replacement as an early Christmas present, but it wasn't actually <i>fitted </i>till early/mid December due to Courtney and I both being ill for ages. Now we just need to get the <i>rest </i>of the bathroom re-done.</li><li><b>A little bit of work</b> - a former colleague of mine recommended me to an organisation that was in need of some roller banners for a presentation in June. That worked out so well, they called me back <i>later </i>in the year, asking me to work on a guidebook. While working on the preliminary stages of <i>that</i>, one of my old contacts mentioned that one of his <i>other </i>clients was looking for someone with my skillset... Didn't get an interview (<i>once the job was described to me by the recruiter, it wasn't quite what had been initially suggested, so that didn't really surprise me</i>) but it's always nice to be remembered and recommended like that.</li>
<li>
<b>Getting my family's old Atari 2600 up and running again</b> -
considering how long it had been in the loft -
<i>and in pieces, no less</i> - I was surprised to find that the machine
was actually fully functional,
<i>just not that compatible with contemporary TVs</i>. A quick
modification gave it a Composite Video output, but I still haven't solved
an issue with a rolling band of noise, which seems to be related to the
electrical grounding of the machine.
</li>
<li>
<b>Modifying <i>more </i>old hardware </b>- my family have <i>three </i>ZX
Spectrums - two 48K models, one 128K +3 - <i>all </i>of which have needed some
attention to get them back up and running after some years of being
mothballed. This year, I was able to convince my father to allow me to
make a simple modification that would allow the 48K models to output
Composite Video, since tuning a <i>contemporary </i>digital TV to its RF output
proved tricky. He was <i>convinced </i>he'd made a SCART lead for them, that
pulled the video signal from the edge connector, but I kept telling him
the <i>only </i>lead he made that used the edge connector was for an ancient
<i>green screen</i> monitor that was definitely <i>not </i>SCART.
</li><li><b>Some great discounts</b> - I have a nasty habit of <i>preordering </i>toys or ordering them <i>as soon as they become available</i> simply because I don't want to later find them sold out, and only available at <i>vastly inflated</i> prices on the secondary market. In a couple of cases this year, I ended up <i>cancelling </i>preorders because the finally-revealed toy was disappointing. Equally, though, there were a couple of toys I picked up on discount - things like the <i>Jurassic Park</i> crossover set, the <i>Beast Wars</i> reissue Scorponok, <i>Golden Disk Collection</i> Mutant Tigatron, and even the <i>War For Cybertron Trilogy</i> Covert Agent Ravage set - which clearly weren't as popular as Hasbro had expected. In each case, I ended up handing over (<i>at most</i>) <i>half </i>the original RRP... Though, <i>in some cases</i>, that only proved how horrifically <i>overpriced </i>they had been in the first place.</li><li><b>The O'Donnell's Moonshine Advent Calendar</b> - Courtney bought this for me, and I'd have to say it was the best Advent Calendar I've <i>ever </i>had. Coming with a bunch of miniature moonshine jars in a selection of flavours (<i>doubles of some, which meant we could take some to my folks for Christmas!</i>), one full-size jar of their new Christmas liqueur, a voucher (£10 in our case) and a whole host of (<i>admittedly quite random</i>) merch, it was well worth it for the booze alone, but some of the other gifts were surprisingly cool.</li>
<li>
<b>Finally completing some pixel art</b> - One of the most awkward and
embarrassing <i>own-goals</i> in my work on
<i>The Lower Caverns</i> was my decision to <i>completely re-do</i> the
title screen and provide not just one, but <i>four unique</i> images to be displayed at the top
of the final caverns of each set. My <i>first </i>draft of the title
screen essentially just downgraded the image from the Game Boy Advance
version of <i>Manic Miner</i>, but I soon decided that wasn't good enough.
Producing the four final cavern images dragged on,
<i>even though I simplified the job by using some pre-existing and
otherwise unused artwork for one, and then building another out of
blocks of scenery</i>. The image for the first set - essentially the original
<i>Manic Miner</i>, but with new graphics - took the longest, because I
had a good idea of what I <i>wanted </i>to do, but just didn't feel
confident in my own work. Eventually, my determination to just
<i>get it out of the way</i> won out over my procrastination and
self-doubt... and I'm <i>fairly </i>pleased with the results.
</li>
<li>
<b>Selling my Game Boy Color collection</b> - Courtney found my GBC and 17
games
<i>in a box that hadn't seen the light of day in the 8 years she's lived
with me</i>, so I figured I may as well get rid of them. I've never been that big on
<i>portable </i>gaming, and the system had never impressed me a great
deal. I went via a Nintendo-specific Facebook group, and quickly got some
excellent offers. Came at a good time, too, as it meant I was able to
spend a <i>small</i> amount of what I made on some Hasbro and Third Party
figures I thought I was going to miss out on.
</li>
<li>
<b>Kew Gardens</b> - I can't even remember the last time I went to Kew,
but it was almost certainly when I was a child
<i>too young to really appreciated it</i>. Courtney,
<i>despite having lived in London for over ten years</i>, had somehow
never been to the Gardens, and so prebooked tickets for a visit at the end
of her 'between jobs staycation' in early November. It was a
<i>chilly </i>day, but a dry and bright one, making it all the more
special for falling between long periods of strong winds and torrential
rain. Even so, we saw just<i> a tiny fraction</i> of the park, and will
have to go back again in the spring/summer to see more of it.
</li>
<li>
<b>Re-watching <i>The Sopranos</i></b> - Since Courtney was far too young
to watch the show when it first aired, and I never got to see the final
season, we acquired the full series as a DVD boxed set ages ago, and
started watching it this year. Having finished watching
<i>The X-Files</i> just before we started this, I was a little surprised
by the way it quickly became a new 'comfort show' for Courtney, given the
frequent graphic violence. For me, it was eye-opening to watch it as a
rather more <i>mature </i>adult,
<i>finally seeing it as the black comedy it was supposed to be</i>...
Though Tony's relationship with his mother reminded me awkwardly of a
certain person in Courtney's family, making the first couple of seasons
quite difficult to watch. Sad, also, that this year saw the death of Tony
Sirico, who played Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri.
</li><li><b>Rediscovering <i>Star Trek</i></b> - Courtney and I have been watching the original series intermittently since 2020, and finished this year. We also start <i>The Next Generation</i> this year, though I'm <i>mainly </i>looking forward to <i>Deep Space Nine</i>. <i>TNG </i>season 1 certainly wore its heritage on its sleeve... some of it was pretty terrible...</li>
<li>
<b>Getting some counselling</b> - I'd been feeling down and struggling to
get anything done for <i>absolutely ages</i> before I even thought to
refer myself for counselling. While I was only able to organise six
'exploratory' sessions,
<i>and had to miss one to attend the aforementioned wedding</i>, the
counselling was a <i>broadly </i>positive experience, which highlighted
things that I would like to explore further, when I can afford to pay for
regular counselling.
</li>
<li>
<b>Calls for Boris Johnson to resign after his office Christmas parties
were revealed</b> - in a fine case of the straw that broke the donkey's back,
politicians on <i>both </i>sides of the Commons called for the
great buffoon to resign but all he offered initially was a <i>blatantly insincere</i> apology and the assurance that the Conservative Party would
investigate itself (<i>and, by implication, clear itself of any wrongdoing, if previous
scandals are anything to go by</i>). Sadly it didn't seem to make any difference, and the arrogant,
entitled moron <i>clung </i>on to his premiership as if it was
the only thing that mattered... rather than, you know, <i>having a Prime Minister the party could be proud of and who the country
could trust</i>. Worse still, it became obvious how many of his cronies had a vested
interest in <i>keeping </i>him in power, likely because <i>their own</i> incompetence would not go unnoticed by a
<i>competent </i>leader. Even when he did eventually resign, he
dropped the post of Party Leader but chose to remain as Prime Minister,
when the role should then have gone to his deputy, however incompetent
they happened to be... It was very much a no-win situation...
</li>
<li>
<b>Johnson's eventual resignation(s)</b> - while it took too long to
happen, was accompanied by a speech that amounted to little more than
<i>verbal self-gratification</i>, and the new Tory Party Leader wasn't
exactly a <i>stellar </i>choice, the fact that his removal led to several
of his <i>cronies </i>departing was a huge bonus that I hadn't considered.
Even as Liz Truss took the reins, I strongly suspected she was being set
up to fail, giving BoJo the Clown his opportunity to return and -
<i>lo, and behold</i> - a mere six weeks later, after a
<i>disastrous </i>'mini-Budget' and some cringeworthy interviews, she
stepped down, leading to a (<i>mercifully brief</i>)
<i>second </i>leadership race. BoJo did <i>return</i>, but decided not to
run... <i>this time</i>...
</li>
<li>
<b>Theranos sentencing</b> - The trials of Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny
Balwani were delayed by the pandemic, but both <i>finally </i>concluded
this year, with the former sentenced to 11 years and the latter getting 13
years thanks to being found Guilty of <i>one additional charge</i>.
Personally, I think <i>both </i>got of lightly, thanks to the trials being
focussed on the <i>financial </i>element, rather than the fact that
Holmes' invention put lives at risk.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><b>Disappointments of 2022</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<b>TransFormers Legacy</b> - My <i>expectations </i>were low, but the
first few rounds of <i>Legacy </i>reveals <i>still </i>managed to
disappoint. The only toy I've bought so far - Tarantulas - <i>felt </i>cheap,
<i>looked </i>unfinished and would have been more than enough to put me
off further purchases
<i>even before it emerged that swift discolouration of plastic was endemic
in the toyline</i>. Hasbro <i>insisted </i>they had this under control and were taking
steps to fix it, but the evidence <i>against </i>continued to appear on
shelves. On top of this, the Pulse Con stream at the end of September
introduced '<i>TransFormers Legacy Evolution</i>', an unnecessary
sub-brand launching far too early in Legacy's lifetime. The only apparent
'evolution' within the line - what they're calling '<i>Evo-Fusion</i>' -
is the return of the Weaponisers gimmick from the
<i>War for Cybertron Trilogy</i>, and the fact that it's been applied to a
new Junkion character to kick things off. The frustrating thing is that
they're releasing <i>Legacy </i>toys of characters I should be -
<i>and want to be</i> - interested in... but they all look
<i>shockingly bad</i>. Perhaps my experience with Third Party figures is
affecting my judgement, but I think Hasbro's output <i>generally </i>has
been declining in quality for well over a decade, so it's now getting to
the point where I just can't muster any real <i>enthusiasm </i>for what
they're offering... <i>And particularly not at the current prices</i>. The
<i>cost/quality</i> equation is now such that, even when Amazon put
<i>Legacy TransMetals</i> Megatron up for preorder <i>at a discount</i>, I ended
up cancelling once I'd seen some reviews. While I'd agree that it's
impressive that the brand is still going, I find myself thinking that
<i>no </i>TransFormers would be better than <i>shit </i>TransFormers...
For the <i>brand</i>, if not the consumers.
</li>
<li>
<b><i>Studio Series</i> The Fallen</b> - While I would never have imagined
buying another toy of The Fallen, given its nondescript,
<i>excessively </i>alien robot mode and the <i>laughable </i>attempt at a
'vehicle' mode on the original, the <i>Studio Series</i> version ended up
looking fairly impressive... at least in robot mode. However, it soon
transpired that it might not be granted a full distribution in the UK, and
its availability <i>even via Hasbro Pulse</i> seemed limited, showing
as 'sold out' almost the moment it was first listed<i> as a preorder</i>.
Naturally, it's <i>abundantly </i>available on the secondary market (<i>most likely imports from the US</i>)... at a vastly inflated cost.
</li>
<li>
<b>Boris Johnson dodged <i>all </i>the bullets</b> - I was
<i>almost </i>surprised that the Conservatives didn't hang on to him so they could use him as their sacrificial lamb at the next
<i>mandatory </i>General Election (<i>end of 2024</i>) in an attempt to
maintain power... But the fact remains that he got away with an
<i>enormous </i>amount of bullshit without <i>any </i>serious
repercussions... and, <i>by rights</i>, it should require a miracle on the
Tories' part to make the British public forget their
<i>grievous mishandling</i> of everything from Brexit and the pandemic to
the sleaze within their own party.
</li>
<li>
<b>The Tory leadership race was a joke</b> - The
<i>initial </i>line-up was basically all looking to blindly carry on Boris
Johnson's legacy rather than even attempt a course-correction that might
have a <i>positive </i>effect at the next election... and they were
quickly whittled down to the posh boy who looks like the
<i>Spitting Image</i> puppet of your local bank manager and a Margaret
Thatcher <i>cosplayer</i>. Personally, I don't think <i>either </i>would
have been a good choice, but the term <i>'Ca-Truss-trophe'</i>, which
emerged little more than a <i>week </i>after Liz Truss took the reins,
surprised even me.
</li>
<li>
<b>Liz Truss quits after six weeks</b> - It's rather <i>telling </i>of the
state of the Conservative Party that someone willing to run for the office
of Party Leader and Prime Minister is <i>also </i>willing to resign from
that role <i>less that two months into it</i>. Of course, Boris was
jetting back to the UK to reclaim his crown even though, while he was
Prime Minister,
<i>he declined to cut short a holiday to tackle a crisis back home</i>.
This tells you everything you need to know about him: it's all about the
power and the prestige, not the <i>responsibility </i>or the <i>work</i>.
With Rishi Sunak being handed the role -
<i>seemingly to prevent a disastrous return to power by Johnson</i> - I
expected another swift exit... Especially in the wake of Johnson
announcing his withdrawal from the race by <i>ominously </i>stating that
it was "not the right time".</li><li><b>Another completely out-of-touch PM</b> - Rishi Sunak almost immediately drew scorn for some
dubious cabinet appointments, and for declining to attend an environmental
summit in Egypt (<i>not to mention having the gall to instruct the newly-crowned King
Charles against attending</i>), but quickly did a u-turn on the latter... much like Truss after her
<i>disastrous </i>mini-budget. As new leader of <i>the party that squandered billions on substandard PPR and nonfunctional 'track and trace' software during the pandemic</i>, he <i>smugly </i>refused to budge on pay rises for NHS staff, leading to some unprecedented industrial action by the healthcare union.</li>
<li>
<b>The Conservative Party, generally, is a joke</b> - Always a
supercilious bunch, but the inability to rally behind a leader has been
becoming ever more pronounced since Cameron quit in the wake of the Brexit
vote. The inability to take responsibility for (<i>or positive action toward fixing</i>) any of their grievous and predictable mistakes has been becoming
increasingly apparent as well. I fully expect them to limp on till 2024
before permitting a General Election, because they're too stubborn to risk
relinquishing power until it's unavoidable.
</li><li><b>Widespread industrial action in December</b> - while most of the mainstream media did it's usual thing of portraying <i>the striking workers</i> as villains, intent on ruining Christmas for the people (<i>and, sadly, quite a lot of people failed to realise that the striking workers are just as much part of 'the people' as they were</i>), I find myself <i>broadly </i>in support. Sure, it's <i>inconvenient </i>that our postal deliveries and public transport got so badly affected, and the fact that NHS workers went on strike was shocking... but consider the Government's sneering response - <i>starting to develop legal measures to prevent future industrial action, rather than addressing its cause</i>. The Conservative party are showing their fascist colours all too plainly.</li>
<li>
<b>Getting COVID, again</b> - I believe this was the <i>second </i>time
I'd had COVID, the <i>first </i>having been around March/April 2020, not
long after finishing my last Temping role. This time, it started with a
<i>slight </i>throat tickle one late September Saturday evening and, 24
hours later, had developed into a stronger cough, a fever which lasted
about 48 hours, and 'digestive distress' that lasted through half of the
following week. Courtney started developing symptoms as mine started
easing - some less severe than mine, some more. Pretty sure I know
<i>how </i>we caught it, because we'd only been out <i>once </i>in the
preceding couple of weeks... to an event in a small, intimate venue, where
no-one was wearing masks,
<i>but plenty of people were coughing openly and often</i>. While
Courtney's case cleared up within a couple of weeks, my cough lingered,
then got worse again a little over a month later... But then, I am prone
to chest infections... Speaking of which...
</li>
<li>
<b>Developing a chest infection, again</b> - Having been free of chest infections
over the last three years (two of which wholly due to the COVID lockdowns), now
that people are out and about again, and less inclined to wear masks, it
was inevitable that I'd pick up a chest infection sooner or later, even
though I'm still not going out a great deal. My post-COVID cough dragged
on for about a month and a half, before suddenly taking a turn for the
worse, and becoming a full-on rattling cough toward the end of November. Once mine started clearing up, Courtney developed a chest infection.</li><li><b>Cancellations due to illness</b> - Courtney and I booked tickets to a few different things toward the end of the year, but ended up either <i>cancelling </i>or <i>rescheduling </i>them due to our respective illnesses. Not ideal, but at least we weren't totally missing out in <i>most </i>cases.</li>
<li>
<b><i>Doctor Who</i> BBC Centenary Episode</b> - Titled
<i>'The Power of the Doctor'</i>, it was a typically meandering,
nonsensical mess with plot dumps every few minutes in lieu of things
actually happening. Frankly, the opening scene typified everything
<i>wrong </i>with the Chibnall era, and the closing scene was
<i>a grim reminder</i> of what's to come, with Russell T. Davies back at
the helm.
</li>
<li>
<b>The <i>Bayonetta 3</i> debacle</b> - I've not played any of the
<i>Bayonetta </i>games (<i>though I did consider buying a WiiU and, more recently, a Switch, so
that I could give them a try</i>) but I have watched some Let's Plays and some stream play, so I'm
<i>fairly </i>familiar with the games and the character. When Hellena
Taylor suggested that she'd essentially been <i>cheated </i>out of the
role in the third game, it seemed unfair <i>and unwise</i> on the part of
the studio behind the series... However, when it later transpired that
she'd <i>lied </i>about the specifics of the deal she had been offered, it
became pretty clear that something <i>bigger </i>was amiss. Frankly,
<i>I </i>started to feel suspicious when I read that she'd "quoted Bible
verses" at the game's director. Other suggestions of somewhat toxic
behaviour slowly emerged, and Taylor lost all the sympathy she'd initially
gained along with pretty much <i>all her credibility</i>... somewhat derailing what <i>may </i>have been the original intention of
her protest: to point out that voice actors, generally, don't get a great
deal out of multi-million dollar franchise games, and that fairer
remuneration was due. <i>After all that</i>, having played the game,
<i>some </i>'fans' apparently got pissy because a romantic relationship
between the titular witch and crusading journalist Luka -
<i>telegraphed clearly since the first game</i> - was made canon, when
they'd <i>presumed </i>a romantic relationship with Jeanne... And,
<i>being the kind of fans who presume their personal headcanon supersedes
anything the creators intended</i>, were left rather salty.
</li>
<li>
<b>Getting taken offline, albeit briefly</b> - One Sunday morning in
September, I received an automated email from Google saying the
TransForm-A-Blog had been flagged as a 'spam blog', and was taken offline.
<i>Naturally</i>, I appealed the decision... and was back up and running
in about half an hour. Even so, the fact that <i>all </i>my content became
inaccessible to me was concerning.
</li>
<li>
<b>My energy supplier</b> - Back in March/April of this year, OVO Energy,
increased my monthly Direct Debit to <i>almost £140</i>. Since then, the
credit on my account has gone up - <i>on average</i> - about £60 a month.
Granted, I switched my central heating on in November,
<i>but that didn't have a massive impact on the bill because I was being
more sparing in my use of (more costly) electricity</i>. By that point, I was in credit to the tune of
<i>almost 3 months</i> payments (<i>or a full quarter, to put it another way</i>), even after a £66 refund. Naturally, I tried to contact them... b<i>ut they don't accept phone calls unless you're 'vulnerable' or in an
emergency</i>, so I had to resort to web chat. The operator acknowledged that I was in
credit, but informed me that she would not be able to process both a DD
adjustment <i>and </i>a refund on the same day...<i>
and that I should wait at least 24-48 hours before making the second
request, which then takes up to 10 days to process the funds back into
my account</i>... Meanwhile, they're making interest on money that should,
<i>by rights</i>, have remained in my account. Barely a week after they
agreed to <i>reduce </i>my DD payment, they emailed saying they wanted to
put it back <i>up</i>... but only to about £120 this time. I contacted
them to say <i>no</i>. It's so easy for <i>them </i>to adjust the DD in
<i>their </i>favour, but trying to get money out of them is made as
<i>inconvenient </i>as possible.
</li><li><b>Almost, but not quite a White Christmas (Again)</b> - We rarely get a White Christmas in the UK... in fact, over the last couple of decades, we've seen more snow in February and March than in December and January... but, this year, we had a light snowfall in the first half of December as part of a 'big freeze', only for it to switch back to rain in the days before Christmas.</li>
<li>
<b>Theranos sentencing</b> - While not <i>unexpected</i>, I found it
baffling that Sunny Balwani's sentence came in two years
<i>higher </i>than that of Elizabeth Holmes, since he was
(<i>technically</i>) of lower rank while at Theranos,
<i>wasn't</i> constantly courting publicity,
<i>and sunk some of his own money into the grand folly</i>. It suggested
to me that either race or gender - <i>possibly both</i> - played a part in
how he was viewed by the jury.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><b>Previous Predictions vs. Reality</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<b><i>TransFormers Legacy</i> will continue to disappoint</b> -
honestly, my main gripe with this line is how it causes the fandom to
present itself as <i>utterly delusional</i>, and exhibiting a totally
<i>inconsistent </i>application of suspension of disbelief to the
concept of 'robots in disguise'. The number of people willing to
<i>accept </i>the absolute botch-job that is <i>Legacy </i>Blitzwing by
performing the most insane mental gymnastics to praise its accuracy to
the <i>G1 </i>cartoon (<i>spoiler warning: it ain't remotely accurate, not least because the
cartoon was seldom accurate to itself from one scene to the next</i>), not to mention the lazy, dull engineering on almost <i>everything </i>thusfar revealed, is just <i>staggering</i>. Worse than that, photos of
toys with plastic turning yellow <i>straight out of the box</i>,
<i>missing</i> parts, <i>missing </i>paint applications and <i>breakages </i>after minimal use
have become alarmingly common. It's bad enough that Hasbro seem to be
remaking (<i>by and large</i>) the same toys,
<i>over and over again</i>, with any 'improvements' being wholly
subjective, but the steadily increasing <i>costs </i>and declining
<i>quality </i>are really harming the brand.
</li>
<li>
<b><i>Studio Series</i> will start to cut more corners</b> - while the
quality of the sculpts and engineering has been markedly variable since
<i>Studio Series</i> began, and the paint jobs have been largely quite
miserly, it is becoming apparent that additional corners are being cut,
<i>not least with the increased prevalence of ball joints in some of the
more recent figures</i>.</li>
<li>
<b><i>Rise of the Beasts</i> will need reshoots</b> - initially, there
was no way to confirm <i>or </i>contradict this, but the fact that the
movie's release was postponed to 2023 was certainly not a
<i>good </i>sign... Later in the year, it became apparent that they were
<i>definitely</i> reshooting parts... but back at the Paramount lot in
LA, <i>not </i>on location. Understandable as that may be,
<i>logistically speaking</i>, it suggests the movie was a bit of a
disaster, and they're <i>desperately </i>trying to salvage something
that can actually be released to <i>cinemas</i>, not just Paramount+.
Additionally, while the casting of Michelle Yeoh as Airazor is
promising, the casting of Pete Davidson as Mirage is <i>not</i>.
</li>
<li>
<b>Further Brexit/COVID disasters</b> - of the <i>former</i>, there have
been plenty... Almost every week brings us a new understanding of the
<i>stupidity </i>of our situation and the
<i>pettiness of the thinking</i> that brought us here. Of the latter,
thankfully, there haven't been too many... Though the sudden appearance
of 'Monkey Pox' on the scene, toward the middle of the year, suggests
we're not exactly <i>out of the woods</i> yet. My girlfriend and I both
caught COVID at the end of September,
<i>despite being fully vaccinated and boosted</i>, but it was probably
no worse than the sort of chest infection I would regularly contract
around Christmas just a few years ago.
</li>
<li>
<b>Venturing out of London</b> - My girlfriend and I finally got
back to Lincolnshire, to see her family and attend the wedding, but our planned trip to Canada
was upset by my (<i>lack of</i>) employment situation.
</li>
<li>
<b>Completing some games, starting some new ones</b> - I was perhaps a
little optimistic and a little pessimistic on this score. The game that
was 'very nearly complete' is still only very nearly complete, but it's
certainly edging ever closer... and at least it wasn't <i>only</i> my fussiness
that threw a spanner in the works. Real life has been affecting the
programmer, and there was a spare cavern than still needed to be
populated because the original concept just didn't work. Things picked
up a bit later in the year, though.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div><b>Predictions for 2023</b></div>
<div>
Where to start? In a lot of ways, I might as well re-use last year's list,
simply because it's as relevant now as anything <i>else </i>I might suggest. Based
on the reveals thusfar for <i>Legacy</i>'s second year and the so-called <i>Evo-Fusion</i>
gimmick, I strongly suspect that it will continue to disappoint... though
hints of a new <i>Armada </i>Optimus Prime are perhaps somewhat positive.
<i>Studio Series</i> is rumoured to be taking another crack at the
<i>War for Cybertron</i> videogames, but I can't imagine they'll be better
than the handful of figures that came out back in 2010, even if they make them all in their appropriate respective size classes.
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<b>Switching my focus</b> - while I still have plenty of TransFormers in
my collection that I have yet to write about, I suspect I'm not going to
be buying much more of Hasbro's merchandise. Finances permitting, I
<i>may </i>buy Third Party stuff instead... Updates to this blog may
continue to be quite sporadic, since my enthusiasm is very much
<i>on the wane</i>. I've said it before, but I've been an adult
collection for <i>far longer </i>than I was a child collector... and I
suspect that has made me rather <i>too </i>discerning when Hasbro are
more focussed on delivering <i>profits </i>to their
<i>shareholders </i>than they are on delivery <i>quality product</i> to
their <i>consumers</i>. Maybe it's just a sense of nostalgia, but it feels as though there <i>used </i>to be a better balance.</li>
<li>
<b>A bad year for Hasbro</b> - there's a sense, at the moment, that
Hasbro are <i>utterly failing to read the room</i>... and not just with
TransFormers. Several of their HasLab projects were dismal failures
because they didn't give fans - be they <i>Star Wars</i>,
<i>G.I. Joe</i>, whatever - what they actually <i>wanted</i>. The
company having its share value downgraded over excessive reprinting
of <i>Magic: The Gathering</i> cards is likely to be a bitter pill
for their shareholders. In most of these situations, it should have been
perfectly apparent that they were making a mistake, but their failure to
see that - <i>and their failure to course-correct</i> - shows HasLab up
for what it really is: a mainstream means of grabbing even more cash
from eager backers with more money than sense, rather than a
side-project to push the envelope of what a toy company (<i>sorry, "an intellectual properties company that also makes toys"</i>) can offer via alternative methods of finance. Additionally, the
<i>TransFormers Collaborative</i> series continues to limp on, offering
minor retoolings along with the occasional dated or otherwise
<i>sub-par</i> unique figure. I fully expect <i>further</i> price hikes,
<i>as soon as Hasbro think they can get away with it</i>.
</li>
<li>
<b><i>Armada </i>in <i>Legacy</i></b><i> </i>- companions to the <i>Legacy Armada</i> Starscream are
strongly hinted, with a new Hot Shot already revealed (<i>looking awful, and with no Mini-Con - likely to be sold separately as
a Battle Master analogue</i>) and <i>Armada </i>Prime appearing in the artwork. I'll be keen to see
if Hasbro have learned anything useful from the FansHobby Naval
Commander version of <i>Armada </i>Optimus Prime but, frankly, with
forums filling up with photos of toys that are broken straight out of
the box, or don't survive their first transformation, I suspect any new
version of that toy will be simplistic, ugly, and a QC nightmare.
</li>
<li>
<b><i>Rise of the Beasts</i> will be a shitstorm</b> - from the moment
it was announced, the idea of a Bumblebee follow-up that - somehow -
also includes Maximals and Predacons seemed like a bad idea... The need
for reshoots didn't exactly inspire confidence, and the early toy
reveals suggested an aesthetic that owed more to
<i>Beast Machines</i> than <i>Beast Wars</i>, as well as a hideous new
take on Wheeljack. I didn't exactly have a lot of confidence in
Paramount's handling of the franchise after the
<i>disastrous, yet immensely profitable</i> Bay series... But
<i>Rise of the Beasts</i> sounds like it's going to be a mess of a film
that has <i>no idea</i> what its audience is, and which pleases neither
the die-hard <i>G1 </i>fans, nor the optimistic <i>Beast Wars</i> fans,
no doubt hoping for an offshoot. Details from alleged 'test screenings' emerged in December and, if even half of it is true, the movie sounds awful, with Michael Bay's 'influence' seemingly <i>more </i>apparent thanks to the use of a less <i>experienced </i>director.</li>
<li>
<b>I'm not going to like <i>Doctor Who</i>, am I..?</b> - my enjoyment
of the show started to take a hit during the <i>end </i>of the Moffat
era, when it became apparent that many of the storylines weren't half
as clever (<i>or as well thought-out</i>) has he liked to think... It
<i>had </i>been a huge improvement over the
<i>pantomime nonsense</i> that was the end of the Davies/Tennant era
but, for some reason, I was never able to see Peter Capaldi as the
Doctor - he seemed to be <i>trying </i>too hard, and ended up being inconsistent. I had some hopes for Jodie
Whittaker's turn but, with Chris Chibnall at the helm and some
<i>diabolically poor </i>writing, it never stood a chance... Even so,
bringing Russell T. Davies <i>back </i>seems like
<i>the last act of a desperate BBC that no longer knows what to do with
Doctor Who</i>. Everything since the casting of Peter Capaldi is top-tier evidence <i>against </i>giving anyone their dream
job... Just as the <i>end </i>of Davies' <i>first </i>turn as showrunner
had been. If I'm right, it'll be a real shame, as Ncuti Gatwa deserves
better out of his role in this formerly great British institution. Unless it's nothing more than <i>mischievous shit-stirring</i>, Neil Patrick Harris's assertion that <i>Doctor Who</i> is going
to get "sexier", and that Gatwa's Doctor will be gay suggests that RTD
has truly lost sight of what made the show so compelling to begin
with... Either that, or the BBC is cranking its identity politics
bullshit up to 11. The only upside is that I'll have to wait till 2024
to see the first <i>proper </i>series with the <i>actual </i>new Doctor. On the <i>plus </i>side, the rumour that his costume would include Wellington boots turned out to be <i>false </i>- it's more like a colourful update of Patrick Troughton's outfit.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
All in all, it's been a pretty <i>mixed </i>year... and, sadly, my brain tends to
fixate on the negative a lot of the time, <i>despite generally styling myself
an optimist</i>. Writing this piece did remind me of a lot of very positive
experiences, but they took a lot longer to piece together. Of course, it
probably didn't <i>help </i>that a lot of this was written while I was <i>ill</i>...</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
In terms of TransFormers toys, though, I think I summed it up pretty well in
a comment I left on a YouTube video in November:
</div>
<div>
<blockquote>
"For me, <i>Legacy </i>is shaping up to be the toyline that will
demonstrate how far and how fast the fandom will bend over to accept
whatever rubbish Hasbro deign to present us - both in terms of material
quality (<i>breakages, yellowing, etc.</i>) and design. Some of it
looks... adequate, maybe? But I really don't foresee myself buying into it
a great deal. For me, 2022 is like 1988 all over again: time to step back,
look at what I'm being <i>offered</i>, carefully consider what I
<i>want</i>... and perhaps leave the (Hasbro) collecting scene for
<i>another </i>15+ years."
</blockquote>
<p><i>
As a fan, that's a pretty sad realisation</i>... But it's not as if I haven't been
<i>expecting </i>this for several years now. Some people in the forums
seem happy to lay the blame for all of Hasbro's ill-fortunes at the feet
of Chris Cocks, the former head of Digital Gaming who took over as CEO in
February of this year, following the death of Brian Goldner last
October... but it's not as if issues like the deteriorating material
quality of lazy engineering is a <i>recent </i>thing. Goldner presided
over its <i>commencement</i>, Cocks just cranked it up a few too many
notches in one go.
</p>
<p>And, with a line like <i>Legacy/Legacy Evolution</i> taking elements and characters from every branch of the TransFormers franchise and giving them new interpretations for the 40th anniversary, I would have expected to be far more excited about the brand than I am... Sadly, it feels as though the team behind <i>Legacy </i>are <i>the weakest, most risk-averse</i> designers at Hasbro/Takara Tomy, <i>or </i>they're just not bringing their best to the task. Ugly, low-effort designs coupled with shitty materials and inadequate quality control at the painting/assembly stage means there's really precious little to get excited <i>about</i>... I'm convinced that the majority of people praising <i>Legacy </i>as, for example, <i>"one of the best lines [Hasbro have] ever done"</i> must have missed/ignored everything from <i>Beast Wars</i> up to the the start of the <i>Prime Wars Trilogy</i>... Either that, their expectations have been <i>insidiously and systematically lowered</i> by the lines aimed at younger kids, like <i>Cyberverse</i>, and/or everything from <i>Prime Wars</i> onwards... or they <i>are </i>simply delusional. Whichever it is, as long as people are actually <i>willing </i>to spend their money on that kind of crap, <i>that's exactly the kind of crap that Hasbro will produce</i>. Another example of the problems is the upcoming Battletrap figure from <i>Rise of the Beasts</i>, which looks decent enough <i>in photos</i>, but at least one of the early reviews highlighted some pretty <i>lazy </i>engineering choices, excessive use of soft plastic, and a paucity of paint applications. Some figures, like <i>Legacy Evolution</i> Skyquake, I <i>might </i>have found acceptable 10-15 years ago... But this was 2022, and <i>we've had better</i>. I may be tempted by a <i>Machine Wars</i> Starscream repaint but, even then, it's missing <i>all </i>the gimmicks of the original toy. As <i>Prime Universe</i> Skyquake, it's an easy pass.</p><p>And the thing is, while some folks <i>continue </i>to claim TransFormers is a toyline for children - <i>even in the face of product costs that are ridiculous if that were the case</i> - there was <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/adults-are-buying-toys-s-biggest-source-growth-industry-rcna62354" target="_blank">a news article on NBC</a> which reported that adult collectors are, <i>indeed</i>, the main market for <i>traditional </i>toys. The reason for this is pretty obvious: parents have, <i>for years</i>, used their cellphones as a quick and easy means to keep their kids quiet, <i>so kids these days are more into that kind of entertainment</i>.</p><p>The upside for me is that Hasbro are doing a phenomenally good job of getting me to <i>not </i>spend money <i>and, until I'm working regularly again, that can only be a good thing</i>.</p>
</div>
</div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-20105463143494753002022-11-25T17:08:00.005+00:002022-11-25T17:08:46.631+00:00Real Gear Robots Spyshot 6<div style="text-align: left;">All things considered, when Hasbro decided to launch a range of TransFormers toys modelled after real-world electronic devices, my thoughts and feelings tend toward <i>"what took them so long?"</i>. <i>Micro Change</i> had been part of the <i>foundation </i>of the brand, back in the early 1980s, but the focus turned more toward <i>vehicles </i>as the line progressed... These toys might have been in development alongside the <i>Cybertron/Galaxy Force</i> line, but it took the 2007 live action movie to shift focus back. By positing that our technological leaps in electronics had been achieved by <i>reverse engineering Megatron</i>, the movie gave these toys some <i>context</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Given the number of electronic devices already in the TransFormers back catalogue, one might have expected a new take on <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2013/09/g1-soundwave-buzzsaw-my-first.html" target="_blank">Soundwave</a> or Reflector... but the closest we got to the <i>former </i>was <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2021/03/real-gear-robots-booster-x10.html" target="_blank">Booster X10</a> - a clear reference to Laserbeak - and the closest we got to the <i>latter</i>... would be <i>this little fellow.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But, of course, cameras have got substantially <i>smaller </i>since the 1980s,<i> what with the digital revolution, and all</i>... and just 15 years after this toy appeared, many people believe cameras, <i>per se</i>, to have been made <i>redundant </i>by those built into cellphones... So let's take a look at this <i>relic of the past</i>, and see how it works as a TransFormers toy.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span><a name='more'></a></span><u><b>Device Mode:</b></u>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Back when I first started this blog, I was using a 3.3 megapixel Sony Cybershot DSC-S75 for all the photographs, and that <i>hulking beast</i> positively <i>dwarfed </i>this slimline, compact piece of kit. I later switched to the Fujifilm FinePix J20, which offered a whopping 10.0 megapixel resolution, but had a really hard time with close-up shots. It had a broadly similar <i>appearance </i>to Spyshot 6, but was still somewhat <i>larger</i>. For its time, though, this toy was a <i>reasonably </i>accurate representation of the new wave of <i>pocket-sized</i> digital cameras.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The front features the extending lens barrel which looks quite convincing (<i>albeit nonfunctional, and stuck at a few millimetres of extension</i>), and a small, integrated flash lamp. The lens sits within a wide, sliver-painted frame, and there's a set of six raised circles on the left side, painted silver and leading down to a tampograph of the Autobot insignia and the name 'Spyshot 6', as the camera's branding. The left side features some sort of button control, though I can't think what it would be, given that the zoom control is on the <i>back</i>, marked with the standard W | T buttons. There's also a directional (<i>menu</i>) controller and some kind of <i>circular dial</i> toward the righthand side, with an old-fashioned analogue viewfinder to complement the digital viewfinder screen, which is represented by a sticker showing <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2019/04/cybertron-ransack.html" target="_blank"><i>Cybertron </i>Ransack</a>/<i>Galaxy Force</i> Gasket - a reminder that, while these toys were <i>released </i>alongside the first movie's toylines, and in similar packaging, they were <i>developed </i>much earlier. Below the screen are a couple of directional buttons. Dotted around the back are some circular details, as a result of the toy's screw holes being covered with plastic discs, glued into place. <i>Most </i>of them sit flush with the back of the camera, but the one directly below the analogue viewfinder on my copy juts out very slightly, <i>almost looking like an unpainted button</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">While <i>some </i>of the buttons on this toy are sculpted and painted on the base metallic brownish-grey plastic, others are <i>separate </i>black plastic parts, glued in place. This feels more than a little disappointing, despite it being in keeping with the rest of the <i>Real Gear Robots</i> line and, as with <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2021/03/real-gear-robots-high-score-100.html" target="_blank">High Score 100</a>, I find myself wishing there was some <i>movement </i>in at least <i>some </i>of them. The actual shutter button amounts to this mode's only <i>real </i>play feature, and returns a satisfying <i>click </i>when pressed... <i>Most of the time, that is</i>... Every so often it <i>jams </i>in its depressed state, but normally pops back out with another press.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><u><b><br /></b></u></div><div style="text-align: left;">
<u><b>Robot Mode:</b></u>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">When it comes to design - <i>generally</i>, not just of transforming alien robots - I am a <i>huge </i>fan of asymmetry... <i>Which is probably a good thing where Spyshot 6 is concerned, because his robot mode is a bit of a jumble</i>. He ends up with arms of different sizes and legs that end in completely mismatched feet, resulting in a somewhat <i>thrown-together</i> appearance. That's not to say his construction doesn't make sense - <i>quite the opposite</i> - and I really like the fact that his flashbulb sits on one shoulder, though there's no way of knowing if it's intended as a simple lamp, or some kind of offensive weapon. The lower legs both look like <i>huge moon boots</i>, but have been handled surprisingly well for his size. The <i>right </i>foot is formed from an irregularly-shaped chunk of the camera and has a <i>hole </i>in the top to accommodate one of his hands in camera mode, while the <i>left</i> folds out from a more regular, <i>rectangular </i>chunk. Both shins feature the same sculpted details and paint applications (<i>albeit with minor variations on the right due to some protruding tabs at the knee</i>), and then the transformation allows for the round, black plastic camera mode features to end up on the <i>outer </i>faces of each lower leg... So, on the one hand, the designers <i>leaned into</i> the asymmetry but, on the other hand, they also tried to <i>mitigate </i>it. The end result is fairly effective, <i>within those limitations</i>. Probably the weakest parts of this robot are the body mass - <i>the camera's lens on the front, the digital display on the back</i> - the forearms, the pelvis and the upper legs.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">While, <i>obviously</i>, a digital camera will have <i>electronics </i>behind its shutter, rather than the traditional <i>pinhole to a roll of film</i>, it still seems really <i>weird </i>for a robot to have a lens apparently occupying most of its torso. Viewfinder, of the original <i>G1</i> Reflector set, really only got away with it because the built in lens/shutter section was <i>proportionally smaller</i> on the robot due to the way analogue cameras were built. But, if that wasn't bad enough, the fact that he has a digital display on his back - <i>one that is permanently showing an image of Ransack/Gasket</i> - almost makes it look as though he's a <i>back-to-front robotic Teletubby</i>... Of course, due to the way he's built, he <i>can</i> be flipped round so the display is on his front and the lens is on the back... but that's really not any <i>better</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The forearms suffer by being comparatively <i>plain</i>, with the both featuring fairly <i>nondescript </i>detailing. The right arm probably comes off the worst, because it appears to have the head of a hammer sculpted into it, and there are two screws just in front of the elbow. He's also another robot with <i>claws </i>rather than decent hands but, <i>on the upside</i>, these claws are at least <i>poseable </i>- each one able to fully open or, when closed, tilt up and down. Between the waist and the knees, he gets a little <i>odd</i>. For starters, the thighs seem disproportionately <i>small </i>and, like the forearms, are comparatively featureless due to their small size. It's the handling of the <i>pelvis </i>that really doesn't seem to make sense, though. One would tend to expect a <i>complete, contiguous</i> pelvic area, like <i>most </i>TransFormers toys would have, <i>and per my photos below</i>. It looks right, albeit while <i>emphasising </i>his weird proportions... The pelvis is split, however, <i>and not in service of his transformation</i>. The two halves actually click into place with a large <i>gap </i>between them, and filling out the <i>sides </i>of the waist. This looks <i>less </i>than optimal, but I'm forced to conclude that this is the correct <i>or, at least, the intended</i> configuration, however awkward it might appear.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Head sculpts in the <i>Real Gear Robots</i> line are all very hit-and-miss... and I can't quite decide which category Spyshot 6 falls into. On the one hand, the overall <i>shape </i>gives me the impression of the <i>Universal Studios</i> version of Frankenstein's monster, <i>or </i>of the robotic equivalent of an ushanka. He has a very <i>humanoid </i>face, painted gunmetal, with large, googly, <i>impressively light-piped</i> eyes, a protruding block on his chin and... I can't quite tell if the mouth has a <i>big, cheesy grin</i>, or just a large bottom lip. The head is molded in the same pale, <i>vaguely metallic </i>blue as most of his moving parts, while the top of the front is sculpted to <i>somewhat </i>resemble the flash on his left shoulder (<i>behind which the head sits in camera mode</i>), but then <i>painted </i>black, with a red line over the left eye. It's an <i>odd </i>head sculpt... but certainly not my <i>least </i>favourite in the line.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Spyshot 6 has a relatively simple transformation, with the head and arms tilting round by about 30° clockwise, then compressing in to form the <i>top </i>and <i>left </i>side of the camera (<i>when viewed from behind</i>), while the <i>legs </i>shift round 90° clockwise, then compress in to complete the <i>bottom </i>and <i>right </i>side of the camera, with the foot folding up into the right side. The hands tuck in easily enough, but there are clearance issues with the <i>elbows</i>, and if feels weird to leave a thin sliver of his head exposed through a slot above the flash. The legs are odd, partly because of the aforementioned - <i>and largely unnecessarily</i> - split pelvis, but also because there's a transformation hinge <i>perpendicular </i>to the knee joint, that's used in conjunction with both the knee <i>and </i>the hip to complete transformation.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">For a figure of this small size, released in 2007, Spyshot 6 has <i>decent </i>articulation. While he lacks the <i>contemporary luxury</i> of ankle joints, the knees have excellent range due to transformation, managing <i>well over</i> 90° before butting up against the inner part of his hip joints. There's a swivel joint immediately above the knee, <i>also due to transformation</i>, and the ball-jointed hips have 180° of travel from front to back, a little over 90° out to the sides, as well as a little rotation on the ball joint. As far as the legs go, he can adopt some <i>reasonably </i>dynamic poses, and the <i>extremely flat</i> footprint makes it fairly easy to stand him on one leg. The arms are mounted on ball joints that are then hinged at the base, so they can swing a full 360° <i>around </i>the shoulder, butterfly <i>very </i>slightly, as well as being able to <i>shrug </i>a little. Their asymmetry means that <i>outward </i>movement is inconsistent, and the only way the <i>left </i>arm can move substantially is by obscuring his head. His <i>left</i> elbow is hinged, with a ball joint just above, while the <i>right </i>elbow is a simple ball joint in the forearm, <i>and a little on the loose side</i>. As mentioned above, the claws can open, as well as tilt at the wrist. The head is mounted on a ball joint, offering unrestricted rotation, and a range of about 90° tilt foward-to-backward... <i>though the head has a tendency to pop back to the vertical when pushed forward</i>. He's also got a <i>tiny </i>bit of sideways tilt, but it favours tilting to the <i>left</i>, possibly as a result of his transformation.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">In spite of his <i>extremely odd</i> appearance, I'd have to rate Spyshot 6 as one of my favourite <i>Real Gear Robots</i>. Part of that is simply because his camera mode is so much fun - i<i>t looks reasonably convincing, and the shutter button is utterly compulsively clickable</i>. His robot mode appeals to me because he wears his asymmetry so well, giving him a lot of character. He may not be the greatest TransFormers toy of all time, <i>and I might have preferred a few more 'pressable' controls on the camera</i> but, for his size and for the time, he's a pretty decent toy.<br /></div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-51863286502143936262022-11-19T11:48:00.006+00:002022-11-19T11:53:11.609+00:00Real Gear Robots Speed Dial 800<div style="text-align: left;">Given the increasing popularity of <i>cellular telephony</i> over the last few decades, it was perhaps inevitable that a toyline like <i>Real Gear Robots</i> would include a compact, hand-held phone as one of its innocuous devices... And, in fact, the concept has even been <i>revisited </i>since, with the 2017 <i>au X TransFormers</i> line of <i>INFOBAR </i>figures, featuring Optimus Prime, Megatron and (<i>of course</i>) Bumblebee, created as a promotion with the Japanese-made devices.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Weird as those are, though, they're not a patch on the <i>abject insanity</i> of the attempt Hasbro had made <i>ten years earlier</i>. Here, I present what must surely be the <i>nadir </i>of the <i>Real Gear Robots</i> line... Read on, if you dare!</div>
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<span><a name='more'></a></span><u><b>Device Mode: </b></u>
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<div style="text-align: left;">Even for a mobile phone of the 'flip-phone' variety, circa 2006, Speed Dial 800 was a little on the <i>comically large</i> side. Not just in width and length, but - <i>perhaps most particularly</i> - in <i>depth </i>as well. Phones of this type could <i>easily </i>be smaller, and (<i>if I remember correctly</i>) Real Gear Robots were closer to the Scout class pricepoint than Deluxe, so there was no <i>need </i>for it to be so large, <i>except to accommodate a reasonable transformation</i>... But, as will shortly be revealed, that's <i>not </i>what Speed Dial 800 gets.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">What's <i>really </i>strange, handling this toy, is the difference in <i>quality </i>between this and some of the others. While the plastic on others felt pretty much of a par with the mainline toys, this one feels <i>discernibly cheaper</i> in-hand. Despite its small size, it feels more <i>hollow</i>. Because it's trying to represent a fairly simplistic real-life object, it's not exactly <i>covered with sculpted detail or paintwork</i>. There's a <i>teeny</i> display on the front of the flap inside a silver-painted disc, volume controls on one side, power button on the other, both painted silver, and then a section of the flap is painted with a nice metallic blue. The mini display - <i>for notifications, I guess?</i> - is represented by a <i>sticker </i>showing the Autobot insignia, and the time 7:47, <i>referencing the date of the first live action movie's release</i>. The back of the phone features some <i>perfunctory </i>linework detailing that looks pretty meaningless, though it would appear that at least <i>some </i>of the circular details are covers, <i>glued into place over screw holes</i>. At the top of the phone, there's one of those little rings for attaching phone charms (<i>looking back, I almost can't believe those were a thing... but it's tempting to dig out the 'transforming' rubber phone charms from the first movie's more desperate merchandising - or maybe even find a compatible BotBots figure - and tie it on for the full effect</i>), and a large camera lens because, <i>yes, even those ancient phones were capable of taking photographs for some reason</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Inside </i>the phone is a decent sized, but shallow-sculpted keypad, with alphanumeric characters stamped on in light blue. Up the top are control buttons for the phone - the <i>obvious </i>ones being 'pick up' and 'hang up' phone icons, with the others <i>seemingly </i>referring to the 'MENU' and 'SELECT' text on the display screen's sticker. <i>Between </i>these buttons is a non-functional scroll-wheel detail, and the whole button panel is painted metallic blue. The display, <i>framed with silver paint</i>, features a sticker of the <i>approximate </i>size of a phone screen from that era, <i>again </i>showing an Autobot insignia, and the time 7:47. Right at the top, it has the typical signal strength and battery level indicators, along with what appears to be a notification bell. The very top of the flap has a recessed detail representing the speaker, while there's a <i>tiny </i>notch below the keypad representing the microphone. One curious detail of this toy, <i>and not one that would have been especially common in phones of that era</i>, is that the flap can rotate, possibly for ease of taking <i>selfies</i>..? Presumably the mini-display would show what the camera was seeing, otherwise it would be a bit of a <i>useless </i>feature...</div>
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<u><b>Robot Mode:</b></u>
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<div style="text-align: left;">Ant it's here that the idea of <i>Real Gear Robots</i> - or at least Speed Dial 800 - having started life as <i>pound shop knock-offs</i> is really cemented. <i>He looks ridiculous, ugly, poorly-engineer... and very, very cheap</i>. The torso is made up of the <i>bulk </i>of the keypad, while the outer sections fold down to become 'legs' with <i>insanely </i>long shins, thighs that are <i>so short as to be almost non-existent</i>, and the most perfunctory 'feet' I have ever seen. His arms are spindly things ending in ridiculous claws (<i>albeit claws with the standard 5mm grip, making him - unironically - about the most </i>useful <i>Real Gear Robots toy</i>), and feature the only robot mode-specific paint applications - <i>blocks of metallic blue that do nothing to disguise how hollow his forearms are</i>. Making matters worse, the flap of the phone <i>remains </i>on his back, <i>completely unaffected by transformation</i>, and looking like a cross between a cape and a huge backpack due to its bulk.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The <i>saddest </i>thing about this toy is that... <i>there's really nothing more to say</i>. It is astonishing - <i>considering how good even the earliest movie toys were, in and of themselves</i> - that there's more to say about this TransFormers toy's alternate form - <i>a cellular telephone</i> - than there is about his robot mode.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The head sculpt, <i>such as it is</i>, basically sits within the hinge for the flap section. The oversized camera lens is his 'eye', and then a very bland, basic, humanoid face - <i>from the tip of the nose down</i> - is revealed by opening a couple of flaps. There's no tech detailing on these flaps, so the <i>only </i>detailing is the tiny sliver of nose, a mouth with a very pronounced upper jaw, and a little chin strap with some sculpted linework. This section is painted with the same metallic blue as the buttons now on his chest, but it does more to highlight how <i>crap </i>the face is, than it does to <i>improve </i>it in any way.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghWoQXmZKxpXuMGbUBHT_CTbR_MEaibMD0OAUNBcsoWRvYmOgka3wKaeXdGgWs0oTre8nrzqwMXLzrIwAbMTJZuPclYUQqWjDVfvCidIK06uRiYU1ewcd5U2fgKsXbiKtxtOQwwNReCKI/s2048/IMG_1362.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghWoQXmZKxpXuMGbUBHT_CTbR_MEaibMD0OAUNBcsoWRvYmOgka3wKaeXdGgWs0oTre8nrzqwMXLzrIwAbMTJZuPclYUQqWjDVfvCidIK06uRiYU1ewcd5U2fgKsXbiKtxtOQwwNReCKI/w150-h200/IMG_1362.JPG" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRGY1x8fqv2A6D0vGusb_raJ-mZdqswEGRfyuYAOj-vP-v_jgHrm3W3TVIb1BKUAJ9a8B2napJg6qVsLRXv0_6UkRRAaXIcOhIAxn-2ftNkBZD3OQEzMSxzZUkzKjZZd83sByd8LMUNUo/s2048/IMG_1363.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRGY1x8fqv2A6D0vGusb_raJ-mZdqswEGRfyuYAOj-vP-v_jgHrm3W3TVIb1BKUAJ9a8B2napJg6qVsLRXv0_6UkRRAaXIcOhIAxn-2ftNkBZD3OQEzMSxzZUkzKjZZd83sByd8LMUNUo/w150-h200/IMG_1363.JPG" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpEbOSOYkG-w-BlC8edp4upeH6jthvoSEWa6FyenHKVoNiXyuOcfyNOWz36yaxgjVap3cgK2tZ8N6ooOiEM1EH2aEDSfKnX2SNXLa9FYQBCPd4grv9E7RQOVtGmoOimRapuDYFNCUR6-g/s2048/IMG_1366.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpEbOSOYkG-w-BlC8edp4upeH6jthvoSEWa6FyenHKVoNiXyuOcfyNOWz36yaxgjVap3cgK2tZ8N6ooOiEM1EH2aEDSfKnX2SNXLa9FYQBCPd4grv9E7RQOVtGmoOimRapuDYFNCUR6-g/w200-h150/IMG_1366.JPG" width="200" /></a>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">As one might expect, Speed Dial 800 has a simplistic transformation. The legs pull out and down from the sides of the phone (<i>with a strong chance that they'll come apart at the thigh rotation joint</i>), the feet flip out, then the shins rotate round to face forward. With the legs out of the way, the arms can be pulled out from the sides, the shoulder slid up into place. Open the phone, rotate the top part 180°, then the flaps covering the face need to be pulled aside... <i>and that's it</i>. Everything about it feels <i>cheap </i>and <i>nasty</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Given that his arms feature ball joints at the shoulder <i>and </i>elbow, it's no surprise that his <i>upper </i>body is reasonably well articulated. The arms can rotate a full 360° at the shoulder, raise 90° out to the sides, while the elbows offer just over 90° bend <i>and </i>360° rotation, and the wrists can bend through about 120-130°. Naturally, there's no waist joint (<i>though there's no good reason why not - there's certainly enough space</i>), but the hips' range of motion is only restricted by the protruding sides of his chest. The thigh rotation joint offers the full range of 360°, <i>but generally prefers to separate from the knee joint, which is comparatively stiff</i>. The knee offers well over 90° bend but, <i>again</i>, the lower leg is more likely to <i>separate </i>from the thigh when trying to move it, and the 'foot', <i>such as it is</i>, only moves for transformation. Possibly the <i>worst </i>aspect of his articulation is the head: whether the head rotates because of the phone mode's camera gimmick, or the camera can rotate purely so the robot's head can move, <i>the two are inextricably - and inexplicably - linked</i>. This means that, while the joint <i>allows </i>360° rotation, <i>that relies on getting the entire flip-phone flap out of the way</i>, which then <i>looks </i>ridiculous and overbalances him.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">The fact that I even <i>purchased </i>Speed Dial 800 is proof positive that I <i>really </i>got caught up in TransFormers toy collecting again thanks to the original 2007 Michael Bay movie, and Hasbro's marketing juggernaut. The <i>idea </i>is sound, and the <i>other </i>figures range from being great fun and well engineered, to what I would describe as 'tolerably bad'. <i>Speed Dial 800 isn't even that good</i>. Everything about him <i>screams </i>'cheap crap', and the frustration of trying to pose him <i>without </i>his legs popping apart is off the charts, <i>before you even realise he's very tricky to pose in a way that allows him to stand</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>It is a very rare TransFormers toy that has substantially more play value in its alternate mode than its robot mode</i>. If I ever write a 'Top Ten' list of <i>worst </i>TransFormers toys in my collection, Speed Dial 800 would very likely be <i>number one</i>.<br /></div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-78233270819618431542022-10-06T15:58:00.006+01:002022-10-06T20:23:17.256+01:00MetaGate G-01 Haiku<div style="text-align: left;">
I have quite a few excellent Third Party figures in my collection now, with an
increasing number based on movie characters, and in a loosely
<i>Masterpiece</i>-adjacent scale. Considering the couple of Hasbro-produced,
Deluxe class figures of
<i><a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2015/06/age-of-extinctiongenerations-drift.html" target="_blank">Age of Extinction</a></i>
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2020/04/studio-series-45-drift-helicopter.html" target="_blank">Drift</a>
that I own are <i>less than stellar</i>, the announcement of a Third Party
<i>MP</i>-analogue version certainly piqued my interest... And the fact that
it was to be a triple-changer,
<i>taking both his Bugatti Veyron and futuristic helicopter modes into
account</i>, seemed like a tall order.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Add to that, the creators, MetaGate, were previously unheard of, and suddenly
launching themselves toward an eager - <i>and frequently highly critical</i> -
fandom with such an ambitious debut project. There have been <i>rumours </i>-
as there were with
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2019/08/dx9-kaleidoscope-03-la-hire.html" target="_blank">DX9's La Hire</a>
- that Unique Toys have had a hand in this figure's creation but,
<i>so far</i>, there appears to be little or no concrete evidence of that.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
However, it quickly became a figure I was intent on acquiring, and the recent
sale of my Game Boy Color game collection gave me <i>just enough</i> breathing
room in my finances to risk taking a punt on a stunning-looking figure from an
untested company. I preordered from Iacon.Store at the start of September, and
it arrived a little over three weeks later... so, let's take a look at
MetaGate's <i>inaugural </i>offering, and see how it compares to the output of
some of the more <i>established </i>Third Party figures.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span><a name='more'></a></span><b><u>Packaging:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
There's no denying a certain Unique Toys <i>feel </i>to the box. For starters,
it's remarkably compact - <i>approx 20 x 16 x 6 cm (8 x 7.75 x 3.25")</i> -
with a dark, detailed portrait of Haiku/Drift and minimal branding on the
front, with images of each of his two vehicle modes on the sides of the box,
and nothing on the top or bottom. The back of the box features little more
than an age recommendation and <i>"Matters needing attention"</i> in extremely
poorly translated 'word salad' English and the original Chinese (<i>which Google does a far better job of making readable!</i>). The box is made of good, <i>sturdy </i>card with a matte laminate applied,
along with Spot UV gloss over the three images and all instances of the
MetaGate logo.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>Inside </i>the box, Haiku is packaged in vehicle mode, surrounded by his
main accessories - <i>two swords and two smaller blades</i> - inside a plastic
clamshell. The instructions -
<i>printed in full colour on surprisingly heavy paper</i> - are in a plastic
bag along with two sets of three small missiles, the vehicle mode's wing
mirrors, and a couple of silver foil stickers to apply to those mirrors. When
I first opened the box, I was a little concerned he'd arrived <i>broken</i>,
because one of the wing mirrors dropped straight out... but it turned out the
bag wasn't very well sealed, and it's perhaps more surprising that any of
these loose components <i>remained inside it </i>than it is that <i>one </i>of
them fell out.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
As an extra precaution, there's a plastic film over the vehicle's windscreen,
with what seems to be a QC sticker (<i>the Chinese character translates as 'check'</i>)... Though I've seen photos suggesting it doesn't <i>necessarily </i>do a
great job of protecting it from scratches.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
On first impressions, MetaGate have done a great job: it's an
<i>excellent </i>presentation box, very much on a par with companies who've
been around far longer, albeit without the frills and textured laminates that
some have applied. The one thing conspicuous by its <i>absence </i>is a collectors' card, which have been a staple in other Third Party MP-analogues.</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXvYIMuZuBy1-bL1yVVHCS250JR0v744UEi5Yhlwl5lPP6CQOH3b2EgdFR7jR8GbISn34C9DKW6SycnUYu77zFGDEN9d-3UPAa1EAQWJYj59xsKg2OTdP6cmDLvK7E-ODcUCthA0PEq_wJFnJtsG9p9PNFLpQFz6eO4DhziKFCkCvsvCcQ_RPH6JvL/s3264/IMG_5356.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXvYIMuZuBy1-bL1yVVHCS250JR0v744UEi5Yhlwl5lPP6CQOH3b2EgdFR7jR8GbISn34C9DKW6SycnUYu77zFGDEN9d-3UPAa1EAQWJYj59xsKg2OTdP6cmDLvK7E-ODcUCthA0PEq_wJFnJtsG9p9PNFLpQFz6eO4DhziKFCkCvsvCcQ_RPH6JvL/w150-h200/IMG_5356.JPG" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWius5JJK0a7YQB-3X_CypaE072lcu5pGCrudDDtPo6ikokglXp6SShvI-yuIU1LMszC6lWljU7IHOn4d2AoAcdx4ibVs0N0SLRL7611BjQA3qdf3nh2buLC5K8e6YEc8_Tr3AsI8dAH5A5e80jGzIQNJQSY7uo2XOzC8DiqUVfqfhX9QmBreetgv7/s3264/IMG_5358.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWius5JJK0a7YQB-3X_CypaE072lcu5pGCrudDDtPo6ikokglXp6SShvI-yuIU1LMszC6lWljU7IHOn4d2AoAcdx4ibVs0N0SLRL7611BjQA3qdf3nh2buLC5K8e6YEc8_Tr3AsI8dAH5A5e80jGzIQNJQSY7uo2XOzC8DiqUVfqfhX9QmBreetgv7/w200-h150/IMG_5358.JPG" width="200" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjYKC88pCRrB1QFTrLf5iBJ8xrTYjUMJc5sDVtQT5wzR4EuR5VeKgXaHI_PVbEBEwQgb2cgQsdn627XbrAOUF-iF-A9tdXJNf7gd0KXMSHuMMwiAOB3dncQ35wbcD36JWiSa25RTosb35903zgG8DpyqqvMRuR6jhZ1mTVNPhG0DnLYEgYKN0BOqUD/s3264/IMG_5359.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjYKC88pCRrB1QFTrLf5iBJ8xrTYjUMJc5sDVtQT5wzR4EuR5VeKgXaHI_PVbEBEwQgb2cgQsdn627XbrAOUF-iF-A9tdXJNf7gd0KXMSHuMMwiAOB3dncQ35wbcD36JWiSa25RTosb35903zgG8DpyqqvMRuR6jhZ1mTVNPhG0DnLYEgYKN0BOqUD/w200-h150/IMG_5359.JPG" width="200" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq7Ap8Na5WXaDbbismKJeREBdhyti7OAELH7okFxxpxWPlN-EsoEDDVcfkLD-QUOryutCKDXHDxdcykMbDvo_1whilL628d627dAXBT6zqw7pYJEv2F7DOuAptJomMw5qBdHAHWjw376Rx_un4fVVSYw7ZnB8S-j931EZkXKrWqRRZY9d7LARvdDU7/s3264/IMG_5357.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq7Ap8Na5WXaDbbismKJeREBdhyti7OAELH7okFxxpxWPlN-EsoEDDVcfkLD-QUOryutCKDXHDxdcykMbDvo_1whilL628d627dAXBT6zqw7pYJEv2F7DOuAptJomMw5qBdHAHWjw376Rx_un4fVVSYw7ZnB8S-j931EZkXKrWqRRZY9d7LARvdDU7/w200-h150/IMG_5357.JPG" width="200" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVnIYT1WokD_7idTLUVgi79sNdXv0CYtM5Ti2snYe9j2GYHXdHFzhlJhPda9xKBliMv4-OPWKPAYf5TrjTor5o8Tb2HkUM_HKXAouom4PHmEmFme0cCGJ7Q1oYLiHKIaQlsmU7UZNL0YMNTtxq71gUbNfZsWMIEl_YBcITbPF9yVaU698hvW8IDaBn/s3264/IMG_5360.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVnIYT1WokD_7idTLUVgi79sNdXv0CYtM5Ti2snYe9j2GYHXdHFzhlJhPda9xKBliMv4-OPWKPAYf5TrjTor5o8Tb2HkUM_HKXAouom4PHmEmFme0cCGJ7Q1oYLiHKIaQlsmU7UZNL0YMNTtxq71gUbNfZsWMIEl_YBcITbPF9yVaU698hvW8IDaBn/w150-h200/IMG_5360.JPG" /></a>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Car Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I have mixed feelings about the Bugatti Veyron. On the one hand, it's quite a
distinctive, curvy vehicle, and it certainly looked good in the extended car
advertisement that was <i>Age of Extinction</i>. On the other hand, the
super-smooth body tends to look quite <i>featureless</i>, with all the
character packed in to the very front and rear of the vehicle. I guess this is
evidence of my clear bias towards the more <i>angular </i>stylings of the
typical Lamborgini, but I don't find it to be so <i>compelling </i>a car as it
seemed when Drift first appeared in the movie series.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Sculpted detail, by and large, is fairly minimal and, while certainly not
<i>perfectly </i>accurate to the vehicle seen on-screen, it's about as good as
anyone could <i>expect </i>from a fairly complex <i>Masterpiece</i>-analogue
that doesn't take the easy route of
<i>turning most of the car shell into a backpack</i>. The front grille is
split into five sections -
<i>two on either side of the bumper, one front and centre</i> - and each has a
shallow-sculpted grille pattern. The central grille features a raised lozenge
representing the Bugatti logo, but it's neither painted <i>nor </i>stamped
with any text. At the back, the tail lights feature the <i>bare minimum</i> of
a sculpted outline, and the Ettore Bugatti emblem is absent,
<i>for obvious reasons</i>. The exposed engine detail is nicely done, and
appears to be close enough to the real thing, given the necessities of being
<i>part of a transforming figure</i>. It's not <i>immediately </i>obvious, but
this vehicle mode <i>does </i>feature a spoiler - by default, it's flattened
down at the back, and the only indication that it <i>can </i>be deployed is a
pair of small indentations just in front of it, that are <i>supposed </i>to
offer enough leverage to start pushing it up. I've found it requires a small
tool, <i>such as a flat screwdriver, or even a paperclip</i>, and the spoiler
only lifts up a couple of millimetres,
<i>nowhere near as far as it's supposed to</i> - more or less level with the
roof, going by photos of the real-life car.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Where the official <i>Masterpiece Movie</i> figures seem to take great pains
to ensure vehicle mode is as <i>unblemished </i>as possible, the vastly more
complex transformation of <i>this </i>figure has led to some defined panel
breaks and instances where things don't line up perfectly. The front, in
particular, looked very broken-up when I first got him out of the packaging,
though this can be improved upon by <i>squeezing</i> him together. The back
end features some more <i>obvious </i>mismatches, and there are some
conspicuous slots in the body of the vehicle - the doors in particular - where
things tab in for robot mode. The <i>most </i>egregious are the grey plastic
hinge on the front of the rear wheel wells, and the metallic cyan flaps over
the outer extremities of the rear bumper. There are a couple of instances of
robot mode parts being <i>somewhat </i>visible in vehicle mode - his toes poke
out beneath the doors, and parts of his backside are visible below the front
bumper, both seeming to hand <i>perilously close </i>to the ground.
<i>On balance</i>, though, vehicle mode turned out surprisingly well.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Paintwork is deceptively simple. <i>Most </i>of the car body has a coating of
a very dark blue metallic paint, and then the <i>bottom </i>of the car, from
bumper to bumper, and the frame around the front grille, is highlighted with
metallic cyan. <i>All </i>the wheels are painted silver with
<i>more </i>metallic cyan on the inner parts of the spokes and on the disc
brake details <i>behind </i>the wheels. The tail lights are painted red,
though the wide, central brake light is absent -
<i>neither sculpted nor painted</i> - and the exhausts are picked out in
silver. One feature I particularly like -
<i>and it took seeing this figure to realise how much I missed it on mainline
figures</i>
- is that the entire front headlight sections are molded in translucent
plastic, with the opaque blue and cyan paint applied on the <i>outside</i>,
and a light gunmetal paint applied to the <i>inside</i>, giving the headlights
themselves a very realistic appearance,
<i>despite the actual sculpted details being quite simplistic</i>. It really
does <i>wonders </i>for the figure's presentation, yet it's something Hasbro
haven't been doing for quite some time. I dread to think what even a
<i>Human Alliance</i> toy would look like, if Hasbro were to start the line
now. The main downside on the paint job here is that it doesn't have the
<i>ultra-glossy</i> finish of the vehicle in the movie... but I guess that
would just end up being a fingerprint- and dust-magnet, so MetaGate likely
made the right call. Where I <i>don't</i> think they made the right call is in
the absence of <i>black </i>paint on all the car's grilles, front and rear,
<i>not least because the sculpt isn't especially strong</i>, and leaving it
the same colour as the surrounding car panels means they don't stand out as
well as they should. On that score, the fact that the petrol caps
<i>and </i>the engine details are unpainted is a huge disappointment... though
it's not as if <i>either </i>were made especially prominent in the movie, so I
guess they're easily missed.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The obvious downside of this vehicle mode is that there's nowhere to store the
swords...
<i>but, to be honest, that always feels like such a Hasbro problem</i>. It's a
<i>car</i>... it doesn't <i>need </i>swords hanging off it. To be honest, I'd
have much preferred it if Haiku had come with a small <i>stand </i>for his
swords, which could be displayed <i>alongside him</i> when in vehicle mode...
but I guess Metagate are assuming that most people will display Haiku in robot
mode, <i>wielding </i>his swords. All that having been said -
<i>and I don't know that this was necessarily intentional</i> - but the sets
of three missiles, ostensibly for helicopter mode only, <i>can </i>be pegged
into the vehicle via the <i>smaller </i>of the two slots on each side, located
just in front of the fuel cap and behind the side windows. They sit at a
strange angle - <i>not really conducive to firing the missiles</i> - but it's
certainly an option, even if not deliberate.
</div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>'Helicopter' Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Well, where should one start on this <i>jumbled mess</i>? It
<i>vaguely </i>resembles the <i>idea </i>of a helicopter because
<i>it has rotor blades, landing skids, something resembling a cockpit canopy
and a long tail</i>. The way this has been achieved is certainly <i>inventive</i>, but the tail
is disproportionately small versus the rest of the vehicle, and the
rotorblades mount far too high because
<i>that's the entire hilt of one sword they're attached to</i>... Would have
been better if part of the hilt could <i>detach</i>, allowing the blades to
sit <i>lower</i>, and closer to the vehicle itself.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>But then, 'better' is such a relative term when the vehicle itself looks
like an incoherent jumble of of robot parts</i>. On one level, I truly do <i>admire </i>the effort... and it's not as if the
movie CGI looked like anything other than robot parts reconfigured into
something <i>resembling </i>a helicopter... but this really is just a robot
with a stabiliser popping out of its backside, folded up into a yoga position,
<i>and attempting to cover its head in shame</i>. The cockpit canopy doesn't
even peg together -
<i>the two halves are supposed to attach to a piece of Haiku's right forearm
via two pegs per side, each sitting at a different angle</i>
- and the rest of the chopper's nose is clearly just the robot's forearms and
hands folded loosely together, with the thumbs hanging down,
<i>possibly intended to represent the guns Drift's helicopter mode had in the
movie</i>. The folded up sections of vehicle shell, from the bonnet to the roof, are
visible in robot mode, but at least they're somewhat concealed by the arms,
but in <i>this </i>form, the gappy inner parts of the figure are on full view,
in the main body of the vehicle.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
While the robot's <i>primary </i>weapons are put to practical use in this
mode, the otherwise unused missile pods get their chance to shine... by
attaching to parts of Haiku's ankle,
<i>unfolded from the lower section of the vehicle</i>... But since these
winglets fold out on their transformation joints, there's no natural
<i>stopping </i>point for them in this form. They don't really look like
winglets so much as
<i>bits that have come loose from the body and are just flopping around at the
sides</i>. Adding missiles to them just makes them look <i>more precarious</i>. The rotor blades mount in a socket that's <i>set up</i> to rotate freely, but the joint seems a little <i>tight </i>on mine, so they barely managed a single <i>full </i>rotation on their own.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Probably the <i>best </i>I can say for this vehicle mode is that it looks kind
of like what a remote control model helicopter might look like
<i>if you removed most of its outer shell</i>... And I don't foresee a time
where I will transform Haiku back <i>into </i>this hopeless-looking alternate
form.
</div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Robot Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
While I've yet to find myself disappointed by <i>any </i>of the Third Party
<i>MPM</i>-analogues, Haiku is in a league of his own in robot mode - a truly
<i>stunning </i>achievement. While transformation isn't overly complex (<i>with the exception of one or two details, which I'll get into later</i>), the physical difference between his robot mode and his car mode is such
that you almost can't see how the transformation can possibly be
<i>achieved </i>based on robot mode alone. In terms of detailing, paintwork
and proportions, he <i>almost </i>looks like one of the high-spec action
figures from ThreeZero, or the statues from Prime 1 Studios. Upon closer
inspection, elements of his car mode become visible,
<i>but they're incredibly well concealed</i>.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In terms of sculpted detail, the designers have done an <i>incredible </i>job
of using the <i>inner </i>faces of some car panels to add robot mode detailing
<i>and physical bulk</i> via the most minor transformation steps. I've said it
before, but
<i>the designers at Hasbro and Takara Tomy really need to start paying
attention to the way the Third Parties assign dual purposes to vehicle mode
panels rather than leaving them as wholly separate shell parts that then end
up folded into an enormous and unsightly backpack</i>. <i>MPM </i>Jazz makes for an interesting comparison because,
<i>to an extent</i>, he did use the reverse of <i>certain </i>vehicle mode
panels to add detail to robot mode...
<i>but even he wasn't so elegant as this thing</i>. There are certainly
<i>similarities </i>in the engineering of
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2018/05/unique-toys-r-01-peru-kill.html" target="_blank">Peru Kill</a>, but the level of detail is <i>far </i>more advanced. While the chest is
comparatively simple,
<i>representing the vehicle mode's grille and some plain, segmented armour
with a few hints of mechanical detail just above the waist joint</i>, the backpack is <i>covered </i>with mechanical detailing that looks very
much as though it could be part of a car <i>or </i>a helicopter. The arms and
thighs feature the characteristic samurai-style armour of <i>sode </i>on the
upper arms are sculpted to look properly segmented while actually being mostly
solid parts (<i>the upper part of his sode being separate from the lower to accommodate
transformation</i>). The forearms are appropriately <i>asymmetrical</i>, with the bulkier right
arm featuring more mechanical detail and the slimmer left arm being mostly
covered with smooth armour. The waist and pelvis -
<i>both front and back</i> - are surprisingly well detailed, though his
backside seems a little <i>oversized </i>due to the need to accommodate his
helicopter mode's tail rotor. The <i>haidate </i>on the fronts of the thighs
look every bit as good as his <i>sode</i>, though there's an interesting
<i>quirk </i>of this figure's design, in that the armour on his
<i>right </i>hip had fewer, larger panels than the left in
<i>Age of Extinction</i>, and they only became more symmetrical in
<i>The Last Knight</i>... I wonder if this means they're intended to
<i>re-release</i> this figure with a new vehicle mode, based on the
Mercedes-AMG GT R... I get the impression that wouldn't be an <i>unwelcome </i>move
among the fandom. Given that the lower legs are made up of concertina'd
vehicle shell panels, they look surprisingly <i>cohesive </i>and, while the level of
detail is much reduced versus the <i>upper </i>body, they still managed to cram in
quite a bit on corners, edges and inner faces. I'm not <i>madly </i>keen on the
design of the feet, <i>but they're certainly more accurate to the CGI than any of Hasbro's toys have been</i>.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Paintwork is similarly <i>awesome</i>, certainly well beyond the likes of Peru
Kill, and likely better than DX9's La Hire, <i>if only in terms of the smaller
details</i>. His 'belt' and each of the segmented armour panels on his shoulders and thighs has the rim picked out in the metallic cyan paint, as does the faux-grille in his chest. The grille <i>itself </i>is painted gunmetal, while the area between the rim and the dark metallic blue armour appears to be painted with an even <i>darker </i>gunmetal, then his collar and the 'fastenings' either side of them are picked out in gold. Little mechanical details on the arms and legs are highlighted with copper, silver <i>and </i>gold paint, though there are some areas where paintwork is <i>less than optimal</i>. On the largely silver right forearm, there are some additional details highlighted with <i>gold </i>paint, but it either needed the <i>gunmetal </i>paint rather than the silver or, <i>at the very least</i>, a dark wash to make it look a bit more <i>battle-tested</i>. Similarly, the slimmer, armoured left forearm has a few nice paint applications, but there's a <i>line </i>of the metallic cyan that <i>starts </i>on the outer half, <i>and then stops abruptly on the seam with the inner half</i>. It seems all the more strange to miss details like this when both sets of <i>knuckles </i>are picked out with the metallic cyan. Other omissions include black paint for the <i>faux</i>-tyre details sculpted into the outer halves of each shin, and metallic cyan on the unique details on the ends of each of his <i>sodes </i>and <i>haidates</i>. These are <i>minor </i>quibbles, though, and could easily be to prevent wear on the paint through transformation. It has been noted by several <i>other </i>people who've bought Haiku that the Bugatti lozenge on his faux grille should have been painted <i>red</i>, but it was likely left unpainted for the same reason as the one on the 'real' vehicle mode grille.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
As with the character's appearance in the movie, Drift's weapons can be
stashed on his back, fanned out. Weirdly, I keep seeing photos of him with the
swords attached <i>hilt-up</i> and, while it's certainly a bit <i>fussy </i>to
attach them hilt-down -
<i>part of the back has to be flipped back into its vehicle mode configuration
to allow space for the swords to peg in</i>
- the concept art <i>and </i>movie CGI make it fairly apparent
<i>that's how they're supposed to work</i>. That said, I guess many people are
working on the assumption that he'd reach back over his shoulders to grab them
by the hilt, as is more <i>traditional </i>with swords. I was a little
surprised to find that the two smaller blades -
<i>similar to those included on Hasbro's Deluxe class toys as a pair of tantos
that he could actually wield in his hands</i>
- are just cosmetic detail accessories on the robot's back and additional
blades for his 'helicopter' form. Given the way they plug into his rotor
assembly, I'd have thought it would have been easy enough to add a couple of hilts into this
package to make them functional <i>as secondary weapons</i>... but I guess they weren't <i>in the
movie</i>, so why make them so on this figure? The swords themselves seem
at once oversized <i>and </i>undersized - the hilts are <i>massive </i>to accommodate their
alternate uses in 'helicopter' mode, while the blades seem comparatively
<i>short</i> for their width. Their paintwork is fairly simple - they appear to be <i>molded </i>in a dark, gunmetal plastic, and silver has been applied along the 'edges' (<i>none of which are remotely sharp!</i>). Curiously, the way the tabs are arranged on the hilts, each sword can
only peg into <i>one </i>hand - t<i>he one with the pommel only fits in the right hand,
the one without only in the left</i>. This is because, while there's a tab on
either side of the hilt, they're <i>offset</i>, and the slot in the hand requires the
tab to be toward the <i>back</i>, otherwise the bulk of the hilt can pop the thumbs
off their ball joints. While his missile accessories aren't really
<i>intended </i>for use in robot mode, they can be attached to spare pegs on
his calves,
<i>if only to slightly reduce the risk of these detachable parts going
missing</i>.
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Much as I <i>dislike </i>the overblown samurai motif of Drift's movie design, I have to admit this figure's head sculpt is an <i>excellent </i>interpretation of the CGI, from the flared helmet and its authentically-styled crests, to the detailed, multi-layered face sculpt and the tiny, protruding goatee. Even the <i>back </i>of the helmet is sculpted to give the appearance of layers of segmented armour intended to protect the back of his neck. MetaGate certainly haven't skimped on paintwork either, with a <i>dense </i>coating of gold over most of the front, and even on the small 'cat ears' protruding from the <i>top </i>of the head. The goatee and some of the raised details on the helmet's crests are <i>overpainted </i>with the dark blue, and there's a band of metallic cyan running down each side of the helmet. The face itself is sculpted with a fairly <i>neutral </i>expression, with the finely-detailed, metallic-cyan painted eyes narrowed in concentration.</div>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I'm not going to sugar-coat this: I bought this figure after watching two
different videos involving its transformation, and felt it didn't look
<i>overly </i>complex... But I was wrong. <i>Or was I</i>? The issue is that
there are certain steps -
<i>and I'm talking about the arms and shoulders, primarily</i> - that have to
be dealt with in a very specific way,
<i>and ideally in a very specific order</i>, just to ensure sufficient
clearance. However, the instructions provided -
<i>and even the videos, upon rewatching</i> - do not clearly delineate the
process. The printed instructions don't <i>focus </i>on the important details,
and the videos invariably had fingers and thumbs <i>getting in the way</i> of
those details. The shoulder hinges <i>alone </i>have to be
manipulated into <i>very specific configurations</i>, with the two parts of
each <i>sode </i>arranged in a particular way to allow the arms to fold
<i>together </i>and peg into the rear of vehicle mode. The slider joint that
<i>positions </i>the shoulders in either mode seems only to work
<i>when the array of shoulder joints is in the appropriate configuration</i>, so
it's very much a case of
<i>'if the joint is fighting you, you've done something wrong'</i>. I
<i>also </i>had a fairly hard time with the backpack, since it clips together
via a single, <i>very delicate</i> hook that doesn't reach its intended
attachment point <i>unless everything is 100% properly seated</i>, and then <i>still </i>likes to detach itself at the <i>slightest </i>touch. While the
legs work in a <i>broadly </i>pretty similar way to the likes of Peru Kill -
<i>and, in fact, I suspect Unique Toys' take on Lockdown might be one of the
primary inspirations behind the engineering of Haiku</i>
- there are far more small <i>parts</i> making small <i>movements</i>, all over Haiku... For example, his raised collar made up the
rearmost sections of his rear wheel arches, <i>but they're so far removed from
that configuration, it honestly looks like magic</i>. The legs are particularly
impressive, since the <i>entire </i>sides of the car essentially <i>concertina </i>down into the
<i>lower </i>leg, with part of the side windows folding in and switching places with the top of the
shin, which then clips <i>over and around</i> the folded up panels to secure them in
place. What I find <i>most </i>impressive is how <i>compact </i>and <i>slender </i>the upper body
is, <i>despite it being bulked up largely by parts of the vehicle's bonnet and
roof</i>. Here, a blocky, squared-off torso has been avoided by adding hinges to
the corners of the car's roof, and having them wrap around his waist or fold inside. I'm also quite impressed by the <i>asymmetry </i>of the way the arms and feet stow in vehicle mode.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Crap as the 'helicopter' mode is, transforming <i>to </i>or <i>from </i>that
mode is substantially easier than either robot-to-car
<i>or </i>car-to-robot... But, really, there's no <i>reason </i>to transform
Haiku into his 'helicopter' form. It's abundantly clear that it's <i>not </i>just an
afterthought, that it was
<i>a conscious part of the design process at every step of the way</i>... but
it's still <i>rubbish</i>, and MetaGate may as well not have bothered with it.
I'm not sure cutting it out would have made a massive contribution toward
reducing<i> </i>the <i>fussiness </i>of this figure, but it certainly wouldn't have
made it any <i>worse</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There are a couple of spring-loaded pieces, notably
on the <i>front </i>and <i>outside </i>of the thighs and the
<i>underside </i>of his left forearm, which add bulk during transformation...
but there seems to have been an assembly error on one thigh on mine, meaning
the side piece was jammed <i>behind </i>the <i>haidate</i> on one side, and
had to be forced out. Even having fixed that, neither it <i>nor </i>the
<i>haidate </i>move as freely as the <i>correctly-assembled</i> counterparts
on the other leg. The sprung piece in the left forearm has a habit of getting
stuck, because it seems to be only <i>loosely </i>held into its track, and
rattles a bit within the forearm, so pushing it in <i>sometimes </i>results in
it getting wedged in place. The only other thing to note is that one or two
smaller pieces on the legs popped off their (<i>unpinned</i>) hinges during my
first couple of transformations due to clearance issues, but they were easily
popped back on.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Another common thread between <i>this </i>figure, Peru Kill and La Hire is
that,
<i>as amazing as robot mode can be made to look in photos, its articulation is
surprisingly not amazing</i>. It feels like all the necessary joints are <i>there</i>, but they're either
super-stiff or their range is negligible. Starting at the feet, we have ankle
tilt thanks to transformation, as well as separately articulated 'toes' and
foot spikes. <i>However</i>, great as 180° <i>inward </i>ankle tilt is, the
forward/backward tilt is <i>virtually nil</i> because the foot and the lower
leg mass clash instantly. He has double-jointed knees with
<i>enviable </i>range,<i>
but the thighs can't kick forward or out very far because of the haidate</i>. These pieces are spring-loaded to move out of the way (<i>down the thigh</i>) as the leg is swung forward, but it <i>still </i>butts up against his belt
<i>before even achieving 30°</i>, and the legs <i>barely </i>swing any further
<i>backward</i>. Add to this, he has <i>an enforced A-stance</i> because of
the bulk of the inner thigh (<i>the inside of the car's headlight sections</i>). The waist is <i>theoretically</i> unrestricted, but I've heard some
alarming <i>clicks </i>on one side because of the outer windscreen sections,
wrapped around his sides, catching on part of his belt. He has an ab crunch
which can be extended by <i>unfastening </i>the small belly panel, but its
range is decent enough <i>without</i>. The shoulders are <i>insane</i>, with
the transformation joints allowing some butterfly movement and 360° rotation
(<i>sword storage allowing</i>). His arms can't <i>quite </i>lift 90° out to
the <i>sides</i>, while bicep rotation is <i>super-stiff</i> and often splits
the <i>sode</i>. His elbows are double jointed due to transformation, and he
has <i>extremely stiff</i> rotation joints in the forearm,
<i>just below each elbow</i>. The hands are pretty interesting, in that the
wrist can tilt in and out,
<i>such that he can show his palms or cock his fists</i>, as well as tilt
down, allowing him to more effectively <i>point </i>his swords. The bulkier,
silver forearm grants <i>less </i>of this movement than the more svelte blue
arm, but that <i>could </i>just be the stiffness of the joint on mine. The
hands <i>themselves </i>feature two knuckle joints each across all four
<i>conjoined </i>fingers, along with a thumb that's ball-jointed at the base,
<i>then </i>has a hinge. The head is on a ball joint attached to a short
'neck', <i>mainly </i>for transformation... but the back of the helmet
features cutaways to allow it to sit back properly within his collar,
<i>basically immobilising it</i>. Rock the head <i>forward </i>on its 'neck',
and a fair range of movement is unlocked, but the flared helmet clashes with
pretty much <i>everything </i>around it, and it doesn't take long for the
<i>position </i>and <i>orientation </i>of the head to look unnatural.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
On the subject of articulation, I feel it's also worth adding that
<i>a certain YouTube reviewer</i> complained about the lack of wrist
articulation on this figure... even while noting - as I have done - that it
<i>does </i>have forearm rotation. Considering this achieves exactly the same
<i>result </i>in terms of poseability (<i>and would actually be more anatomically accurate, if one were to observe
one's own arm while rotating one's hand</i>) and there's a lot more tilting range than most figures offer, it's an
<i>absurd </i>complaint. Literally the only problem with these forearm
rotation joints is that <i>they're too damned tight</i>. Personally, I wish
<i>more </i>figures had forearm rotation instead of wrist rotation, since the
wrist tends to be <i>a smaller, more delicate joint</i>, which could then
simply be pinned to <i>tilt </i>instead.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Aside from the fact that <i>I really did not enjoy transforming Haiku the first couple of times</i>, and
<i>ignoring </i>the QC/assembly issues with the leg armour, I think it's a
<i>fantastic </i>achievement. The Bugatti Veyron car mode certainly isn't
<i>flawless</i>, and 'helicopter' mode is
<i>a travesty I shall surely never revisit</i>, but robot mode -
<i>for me</i> - transcends its <i>somewhat botched</i> articulation. He's easy
enough to pose in Drift-like poses, he handles his swords well, the sculpt
<i>and </i>paint work are nothing short of <i>phenomenal</i>. Considering the
quality <i>and cost</i> of Hasbro's recent <i>Masterpiece </i>figures, Haiku
presents far better <i>value for money</i>, albeit with the significant
<i>caveat </i>of a fussy transformation...
<i>and I know I'm more inclined to be forgiving of that sort of 'flaw' than
some folks</i>.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
That said, it's probably not the <i>most </i>horrific transformation at Third
Party company has produced, and nothing about it feels particularly
<i>fragile</i>, even though there are some instances of metal pins inside what
seems to be <i>very thin</i> pieces of translucent plastic. Chances are, <i>after
a few more attempts</i>, I'll get a better grip on how Haiku's arms are <i>supposed
</i> to be manoeuvred and, <i>once the method clicks</i>, it'll be a lot more enjoyable to
transform him back and forth.
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I do have one, <i>quite strange</i> complaint... and that is that his fingers seem too short. Fully extended, they look about right... so it's <i>possibly </i>just that they're all <i>conjoined </i>and their hinges behave weirdly but, <i>in certain poses</i>, with the fingers bent, the hands just don't look <i>right</i>, and certainly the fact that they don't wrap <i>fully around</i> the hilts of his swords is unusual.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you're particularly fanatical about <i>scale</i>, or not overly keen on the <i>later </i>Bayverse aesthetic, Haiku is probably not for you. As with <i>other </i>Third Party releases, <i>MetaGate did not feel beholden to any particular scale</i> and, while his <i>vehicle</i> mode might fit <i>adequately </i>with official <i>MPM </i>figures, his robot mode certainly won't... Though he's probably <i>close enough</i> to the likes of La Hire and most of Unique Toys' <i>MPM</i>-analogues, and possibly the <i>upscaled </i>KO of <i>MPM </i>Ratchet... He's certainly too tall compared to <a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2021/05/jh-01-rescue-pioneer-ko-masterpiece.html" target="_blank">Rescue Pioneer</a>. I ordered Haiku from Iacon.Store for a touch over £110 including shipping (<i>direct from China via the courier YanWen, and taking just over a week to arrive</i>), and that's a <i>steal </i>considering the prices Hasbro expect us to pay for their mainline toys now, let alone the <i>Masterpiece </i>figures. If the Third Parties continue to produce figures like <i>this</i>, Hasbro have basically priced themselves out of <i>relevance </i>to collectors.</div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035193998266419227.post-43430742951332280912022-09-23T17:51:00.005+01:002023-11-03T16:16:52.869+00:00Jurassic Park X TransFormers Tyrannocon Rex (& Autobot JP93)<div style="text-align: right;">
<i><b><span style="color: #f4cccc;">(Femme-Bot Friday #80)</span></b>
</i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i> By and large</i>, the very <i>concept </i>of TransFormers crossovers with
other properties is not one that interests me. The pair of
<i>Street Fighter II</i> sets won me over because I'm <i>also </i>a Capcom
fan, and because it used the <i>Generations </i> Arcee mold -
<i>which I was quite keen on</i> - for Chun Li. The movie crossovers -
<i>Back to the Future</i>, <i>Ghostbusters</i>, <i>Top Gun</i> and
<i>Universal Monsters</i> - all looked <i>low-effort</i> and
<i>poor-quality</i>.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
And, <i>to be perfectly honest</i>, when the <i>Jurassic Park</i> crossover
was revealed, I planned on skipping it. Sure, the new paint job for the
<a href="https://hdtfblog.blogspot.com/2021/03/war-for-cybertron-kingdom-megatron-beast.html" target="_blank"><i>Kingdom </i>Megatron</a> mold <i>and </i>its new head sculpt looked great,
<i>but the transforming Ford Explorer looked like the kind of knockoff toy
sold in the London Zoo gift shops</i>. With a price tag in excess of £120, I felt it was more <i>overpriced garbage</i> that I could happily live without, even though the
absurdly-named Tyrannocon Rex was billed as a Femme-Bot. If
<i>Kingdom </i>Megatron was overpriced at £52, and the equally absurdly-named
'Autobot JP93' (<i>whom I shall henceforth refer to as 'Dickie Attenbot', per my girlfriend's
suggestion</i>) is very clearly <i>not </i>Leader class in terms of size
<i>or </i>engineering, this boxed set was clearly a rip off, and not worth
investing in.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
But then I saw an announcement on Reddit that Zavvi had cut
<i>over £70</i> from the price tag, bringing it down to about £51
<i>for the pair</i>... and then saw that Amazon had followed suit... meaning
that the cost of the boxed set of two figures was <i>below </i><i>Kingdom </i>Megatron's RRP. <i>That changed everything</i>...
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span><a name='more'></a></span><b><u>Packaging:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Now, I ended up ordering from Amazon... and,
<i>perhaps because we recently cancelled Prime</i>, they then decided to wait
<i>most of a week</i> before despatching it, and put the mailing labels
<i>directly on the toy's packaging</i>. Classy, not their usual behaviour... and <i>almost </i>made me
regret buying from them, rather than paying the £2 extra for delivery from
Zavvi. Thankfully, I'm not <i>overly </i>concerned with the box, since it will
soon make its way into the bin. However, <i>with a little patience</i>, I was
able to remove them both without damaging the <i>finish</i>, let alone the
<i>print</i>, allowing me to take the photos.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It is, <i>admittedly</i>, a nice display box, with Tyrannocon Rex (<i>I really need to come up with a better name for her, not least because
'Rex' is the masculine form, so she should be 'Tyrannocon Regina', if
anything</i>) tied onto the backing card in a dramatic pose, standing on the cardboard
representation of a wrecked safari vehicle, while Dickie Attenbot sits,
<i>in vehicle mode</i>, just in front of her. It <i>almost </i>seemed like a
shame to open the package up...
<i>but I've never been one to leave my toys MISB</i>. What's curious, though,
is the sense of <i>foreshadowing </i>you get from the fact that, while
Tyrannocon Rex is on full view, Dickie Attenbot is basically shoved right into
the <i>corner </i>of the box, almost as if Hasbro were embarrassed by his
presence.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The back of the box features a <i>brief </i>story outline, explaining that
Dickie Attenbot has been despatched to track, capture and return Tyrannocon
Rex to her paddock at Jurassic Park. It's <i>implied </i>that the park know
she's a sentient robot... which makes the whole situation a bit <i>weird </i>-
almost like she's a refugee from the <i>TransFormers Animated</i> universe, in
which she was an animatronic, brought to life by the power of the AllSpark.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The main feature of the back - <i>a large Tyrannosaurus footprint</i> - had
been concealed by the packaging labels, and I was a little surprised to find
there were no product shots, as the footprint itself isn't exactly the most
<i>exciting </i>bit of artwork, however much of a movie Easter egg it's
supposed to be. Product shots -
<i>even on boxes with windows as large as this one</i> - are a staple of this
kind of toy, and it's baffling that even the standard flashes advertising the
<i>complexity </i>of the toys in terms of transformations steps are absent
from this package... All it has is <i>five lines</i> of scene-setting text,
<i>translated into French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese</i>. Aside from
that, it's pretty much just markings from the movie studios and a panel making
it clear that Dickie Attenbot is an <i>officially licensed</i> Ford product.
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3rltwHhqOSDnS2MLr-OiH18vYKJnxHJLZVQXW76pW4TFLvR2KJVzTnsleDn7kyMCMZdTJmNdONYnKo84JfNo_IPdb6Gjkh3gK2Q-y3I8vFaMn4kXjEEURnMJUHMUbYYeUUPIA5JV_U6AaAck77QptaVpKv83HuuG3orfySsydHrmg2M1_aew6cKMU/s3264/IMG_5316.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3rltwHhqOSDnS2MLr-OiH18vYKJnxHJLZVQXW76pW4TFLvR2KJVzTnsleDn7kyMCMZdTJmNdONYnKo84JfNo_IPdb6Gjkh3gK2Q-y3I8vFaMn4kXjEEURnMJUHMUbYYeUUPIA5JV_U6AaAck77QptaVpKv83HuuG3orfySsydHrmg2M1_aew6cKMU/w200-h150/IMG_5316.JPG" width="200" /></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs58d49XjbV2yShS-vGFtLiUeJjAtehIfrYmJ1z8c5MmlbkZgwG7ortMRrHXqHkAEYGqU6v9rh0VDS05y-GzQaO3zNnQU-J6qrZJ7I_JPPMVDRp-w7GJ0Wwl5zx8LPLQl4gyXkBPdMtRDvAat8Xe79-lo3RDe4TrOyGlFulaWTVj_a3WOWRbowmsP1/s3264/IMG_5319.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs58d49XjbV2yShS-vGFtLiUeJjAtehIfrYmJ1z8c5MmlbkZgwG7ortMRrHXqHkAEYGqU6v9rh0VDS05y-GzQaO3zNnQU-J6qrZJ7I_JPPMVDRp-w7GJ0Wwl5zx8LPLQl4gyXkBPdMtRDvAat8Xe79-lo3RDe4TrOyGlFulaWTVj_a3WOWRbowmsP1/w150-h200/IMG_5319.JPG" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQSZgdzJH-GDOR2tK9AS616zx8My77zC5kTInagLfmKOFZCIATKug4FJEezrqPCbbNjG-8fsdd65jCRMB1Ay0SikhVxJlLnNpCYpNuwELwY9PtGcmJLySgtZFH5o6sV8vSkk_hCR83YDzw-Xn-Elxs4kYl9w248b7HoNhE6rCE_ZCicrCxIXX5QIc/s3264/IMG_5286.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQSZgdzJH-GDOR2tK9AS616zx8My77zC5kTInagLfmKOFZCIATKug4FJEezrqPCbbNjG-8fsdd65jCRMB1Ay0SikhVxJlLnNpCYpNuwELwY9PtGcmJLySgtZFH5o6sV8vSkk_hCR83YDzw-Xn-Elxs4kYl9w248b7HoNhE6rCE_ZCicrCxIXX5QIc/w200-h150/IMG_5286.JPG" width="200" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbxUj93mii-8W3EJ_qlDj-shndt34fLS0x6B4PIzVTH1hTOpKCEQdbLJSIOOwsmfNuwm2Lqw2PdwYhg3KYGBvSp3GDnCau-KK3ahP3_KPnkMHMWZtQa8wkPUWmUlo0wkdH1jVrLo9zo27A_UwHC8dJ7UoHvjuv0Yv13tXB_vdbLznaYON3fUzXhEZQ/s3264/IMG_5321.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbxUj93mii-8W3EJ_qlDj-shndt34fLS0x6B4PIzVTH1hTOpKCEQdbLJSIOOwsmfNuwm2Lqw2PdwYhg3KYGBvSp3GDnCau-KK3ahP3_KPnkMHMWZtQa8wkPUWmUlo0wkdH1jVrLo9zo27A_UwHC8dJ7UoHvjuv0Yv13tXB_vdbLznaYON3fUzXhEZQ/w150-h200/IMG_5321.JPG" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcI02sjK4s-psGc4LPHjm7266sPyL0U7v7zT7tpiSYEh9tQAaU0ItJZu_8NatcVqkRQwoht2Mnlh7CaBOIUlnbndfdOdgB5ruRohUkYZ-fcVmNtBmDms7p6p9bJrwrWs6hGIDvN7aUb5CAP79TaReY6RD6lI7OZmLdl920jMRXZRfEH80-L62g3Zl/s3264/IMG_5322.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcI02sjK4s-psGc4LPHjm7266sPyL0U7v7zT7tpiSYEh9tQAaU0ItJZu_8NatcVqkRQwoht2Mnlh7CaBOIUlnbndfdOdgB5ruRohUkYZ-fcVmNtBmDms7p6p9bJrwrWs6hGIDvN7aUb5CAP79TaReY6RD6lI7OZmLdl920jMRXZRfEH80-L62g3Zl/w200-h150/IMG_5322.JPG" width="200" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0H9METSPA9OF8JaMCyDkRGEJNPsNAnbbxa_bzsbpFDWjDYrWj30d41FHs8Xo1ijaNk7I3e0fpAsPCW3FbEs5-a3IRXKkvoaxcComuUtLBa3G-G1iWrXXfEKWyFzj14AlatdnmZgB-M1t2d0PIE1ESTxz1TieEplvgdZPib85g6Mof-6g64TD6wnby/s3264/IMG_5285.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0H9METSPA9OF8JaMCyDkRGEJNPsNAnbbxa_bzsbpFDWjDYrWj30d41FHs8Xo1ijaNk7I3e0fpAsPCW3FbEs5-a3IRXKkvoaxcComuUtLBa3G-G1iWrXXfEKWyFzj14AlatdnmZgB-M1t2d0PIE1ESTxz1TieEplvgdZPib85g6Mof-6g64TD6wnby/w200-h150/IMG_5285.JPG" width="200" /></a>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Beast Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">I cannot express how much I wish the original <i>Kingdom </i>Megatron had decided to forget <i>all about </i>homaging the original <i>Beast Wars</i> toy and fully <i>embrace </i>the more 'realistic' dinosaur appearance of the toy's sculpt. It's <i>still </i>largely rubber panels slapped onto a rigid plastic skeleton, but the base colour of that rubber <i>and </i>its paintwork are <i>vastly </i>superior, from the more <i>muted, fleshy</i> tone of the underside to the darker striped band running from the back of the head to the tip of the tail. The <i>sunkenness </i>of the eyes has been emphasised with a darker paint around the sockets and onto the jowls, the eyes themselves are pretty basic, but the gums, teeth <i>and </i>tongue have been nicely painted as well. Where the <i>Kingdom </i>toy had incongruous <i>white </i>plastic for the joints, that stuck out like a sore thumb in beast mode, this one uses <i>brown</i>, which fits much better in both modes.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The only downsides to this version are that the rectangular panel of rubber on the tail's side panel hinges has a bit <i>too </i>much of the dark brown paint applied, and there's a surprising amount of bright red plastic visible in some of the <i>wider </i>seams. Given its position, those tail hinges probably didn't need any of the <i>darker </i>paint, so it looks for all the world like it was <i>meant </i>to be the lighter paint, applied to the <i>bottom </i>of each piece, and the folks at the painting stations got their instructions mixed up. The visible red plastic is a bit harder to avoid, since Hasbro appear to have <i>really </i>played up the <i>G1 </i>Dinobot angle with this... er... dino-bot.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">What's rather <i>sad </i>about this set is that Tyrannocon doesn't come with any accessories - <i>unique or otherwise</i>. While I don't much care for the blast effects that came with some <i>War for Cybertron</i> toys (<i>none of the handful I own, though</i>) it might have been nice to have <i>one or two </i>of those, even if they didn't want to design and manufacture something <i>unique </i>for this 'special edition' toy.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">By and large, this figure comes together <i>slightly better </i>than my <i>Kindom </i>Megatron does, though the chest/belly panels <i>don't </i>stay together quite so well, and the rump/loin panel doesn't seem to want to <i>stay </i>pegged in on one side. The only other issue is that the colour matching on the hinges for the main torso panels is pretty poor, <i>but that doesn't bother me a great deal</i>.</div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Robot Mode:</u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">With Tyrannocon Rex in robot mode, it becomes <i>instantly </i>apparent that almost the <i>entire </i>paint budget got blown on her beast mode, <i>so there's virtually no paintwork on her inner robot parts</i>. As mentioned above, there's a distinct <i>G1 </i>Dinobots vibe, since red was <i>their </i>primary robot mode colour. It has been observed that, with black plastic for the legs, there's the unfortunate effect of <i>a largely black robot wearing a red bikini</i>. However, given that her <i>arms </i>are red, that doesn't quite line up... Unless it's more of a Superhero <i>leotard</i>, of course.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But, <i>essentially</i>, the majority of the torso is red plastic, with the <i>only </i>paintwork being an approximate 'T' shape in glossy black, from the 'teeth' at the collar down to the waist, <i>roughly </i>following the sculpted detail of the chest, and a coating of red paint over the <i>front </i>of the <i>upper</i> part of the pelvis, which had been molded in black plastic. It's a little disappointing, since there's quite a variety of detail on there, and <i>Kingdom </i>Megatron at least had <i>two </i>shades of gunmetal applied to the chest. Nice and glossy though the black paint may be, <i>it's just not that interesting on its own</i>. One can but hope that Reprolabels come up with a <i>colour-adjusted</i> variation of their <i>Kingdom </i>Megatron label set for this toy, because it actually looks pretty bad in its stock form.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As with beast mode, Tyrannocon comes togther pretty solidly in robot mode. In particular, the two halves of the <i>lower </i>part of the pelvis snap together <i>very </i>securely... So much so that actually <i>separating </i>them again, to go back into beast mode, is a <i>terrifying </i>experience, <i>and I fully expect one of the tabs (or maybe even one of the hinges) to break sooner or later</i>. Still, <i>on balance</i>, rather that than it flops apart the moment she's set down on a shelf. Getting the robot mode chest to <i>sit on</i> or <i>separate from</i> the upper part of the waist joint is also a bit of a trial, but mainly because there's so little clearance from his backpack.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Something <i>approaching </i>a saving grace is provided by a truly <i>excellent </i>head sculpt, but the fact that the whole thing is painted glossy black means <i>it's not being shown off to its best advantage</i>. The sculpt almost looks like an attempt at a <i>G1 </i>Grimlock head sculpt, run through a <i>very light</i> 'Bayverse' filter to up the level of detail and throw in a few unexpected angles. The 'face' is very much just a <i>multi-layered battlemask</i>, and the 'eyes' are a fairly basic red visor, <i>but it's a very striking look</i>... So it's a real shame that it's let down by a weirdly misshapen ball joint for the neck. It allows <i>rotation </i>well enough, though getting the head to sit <i>straight </i>is nigh on impossible. Tilt the head back, though, and it all goes <i>horribly floppy</i>... Additionally, the panel the head is mounted on for transformation just doesn't <i>click </i>into place properly in robot mode. Pretty as the head is, the experience of trying to <i>pose </i>it just makes the toy feel even <i>cheaper </i>in its construction.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Something I hadn't noticed when taking the photos was that the <i>housing </i>for the rotation joint above the knee of the right leg was <i>broken</i>, and a shard of its rigid black plastic was <i>jabbing into the softer plastic of the dual mushroom peg</i>. That would explain why I'd found that joint more <i>stubborn </i>than the one on the <i>other </i>leg and, upon removing and re-seating the joint, it became far smoother to rotate. By the looks of it, there's a chance that the joint could have been <i>seriously </i>damaged if I hadn't dislodged that shard.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It's a real shame that the main draw - <i>for me</i> - in this boxed set turned out to be such a disappointment. I don't <i>dislike </i>it - <i>not at all</i> - but I can't help but think it could have been done so much <i>better</i>... On balance, I'd say it's still one of the better offerings from these <i>TransFormers Collaborative</i> sets... <i>but that's the very definition of 'damning with faint praise'</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So, <i>since we're here</i>, let's take a look at the part of the set that I knew <i>in advance</i> that I really wasn't going to like.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I mean, let's face it, <i>I've been wrong before, haven't I</i>?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Dickie Attenbot:</b></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Vehicle Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
This being an <i>officially licensed</i> Ford Explorer vehicle mode, it should come
as no surprise to find that his vehicle mode is <i>ugly, but reasonably accurate</i>.
Ugly not just because of the vehicle <i>type</i>, but because of its <i>day-glo</i>
colourscheme. <i>Also</i>, the fact that there are so few transformation seams
visible on this toy is <i>an immediate red flag</i>... but we'll get into <i>that
</i> later.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The Ford Explorer looks <i>appropriately rugged</i> as a vehicle intended for use
around a safari park, and, while the <i>acidic </i>green used as the primary colour - <i>both plastic and paint</i> - is more-or-less accurate to the vehicles from the movie (<i>within a margin for error because they look completely different in almost every photo</i>), I think it's either a bit <i>too </i>saturated, or it needed that very specific <i>sheen </i>that car paints provide. By comparison, the red and yellow paints look spot on... though the <i>former </i>exhibits some <i>inconsistency </i>in its applications or its opacity between the green and translucent grey plastics, while the <i>latter</i> seems less dense on the doors, <i>and </i>there's both <i>misalignment </i>and <i>overspray </i>around the rear bumper. Also, comparing this toy to photos of the vehicles in the movie, the yellow paint should have gone higher up the sides of the vehicle, almost to the tops of the wheel wells, so that the park's branding would be partially over the top of it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Unlike most Hasbro releases, both the head- <i>and </i>tail lights are fully painted, with the latter even having their black frames painted on. The windscreen wipers and <i>all </i>the window frames are likewise painted but then, while the Ford roundel and the Explorer branding has been <i>sculpted </i>on the rear, <i>neither </i>are painted. The small, passenger-side searchlight has been painted silver, but the two running lights on the bullbars are bare black plastic with a more detailed <i>sculpt</i>. Due to the few, <i>strategically-placed</i> transformation seams, Dickie Attenbot makes for a fairly decent model Ford Explorer... <i>and will probably return to and thenceforth remain in that mode once I've finished this write-up</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">While the weapon provided is a fairly nondescript shotgun-type thing, there are <i>two </i>mounting options in vehicle mode. The 'disguise' option sees it attaching to the <i>underside </i>via a tab added to one of the legs and a slot on one side of the weapon. The 'active' option takes the <i>time-honoured</i> approach of <i>sticking the gun on the vehicle's roof</i> via one of two slots just behind the sunroof. It seems a little strange that it has to be mounted <i>upside down</i>, but I'd guess one of the <i>no doubt numerous</i> stipulations Ford had in the license agreement was <i>'no 5mm ports visible in vehicle mode'</i>. Given that a mounting point is available on the underside, I'd have thought <i>any </i>means of mounting a gun to the roof of an ostensibly civilian vehicle - <i>Autobot-in-disguise or not</i> - would be superfluous...</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Robot Mode:</u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Dickie Attenbot might have been a <i>reasonably </i>decent TransFormers toy if <i>it had been released around the time the first Jurassic Park movie was in the cinemas</i>... In fact, all things considered, I could easily believe that it was <i>designed </i>in 1993 considering its overall appearance, and simply <i>held over</i> until the right opportunity presented itself.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">At first glance, it's very much the stock <i>Diaclone</i>-type body, with the front of the vehicle becoming the robot's chest, the windscreen and part of the roof dangling off the back, door wings, with the rear of the vehicle becoming the legs and - <i>in this case very perfunctory</i> - feet. While the fact that this arrangement is still in use is testament to the <i>quality </i>and <i>inventiveness </i>of the original <i>Diaclone </i>line, <i>the fact that a toy in the 2020s uses it with so little embellishment seems pretty sad to me</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The main addition to Dickie's colourscheme is black, appearing at the waist, pelvis and hip joints, as well as on the arms. The overall look of his limbs is very <i>squared off</i>, and the detail - <i>such as it is</i> - is neither <i>extensive </i>nor <i>impressive</i>, again looking much like a figure from <i>at least</i> 15-20 years ago. The redistribution of his vehicle mode paint job is <i>interesting</i>, as he gains large panels of red on his shins, while the <i>partial </i>'Jurassic Park' branding on his door wings is largely hidden behind his arms, <i>substantially reducing the amount of yellow on show</i>. The full 'Jurassic Park' logo on the vehicle's bonnet is now <i>front and centre</i> on his chest, directly in front of his head. Given that his legs are <i>predominantly </i>green, the use of black plastic - <i>particularly without any supporting paintwork</i> - makes those part look as though they were intended for a different toy, and it might almost have been better if the <i>arms </i>were mostly yellow.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The fact that the arms are unpainted black plastic <i>also </i>doesn't do his shotgun any favours because, <i>without any paint of its own</i>, it doesn't exactly have much <i>visual impact</i> in his hands... which is a real shame, as the design and sculpt <i>aren't that bad</i>, and it's certainly not as <i>hollow </i>as some other contemporary weapons. It reminds me a little of the guns packaged with <i>G1 </i>Prowl, Bluestreak and Smokescreen, or possibly <i>G1 </i>Jazz... and, <i>while weapons haven't been commonly vacuum metallised for quite some time</i>, a few touches of paint would have made all the difference to this, <i>even </i>just some yellow or red paint on the fore-end, or silver for the barrel. When not in use, the gun can attach to a tab on the bottom of his backpack via a slot on either side.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One <i>really </i>crazy element of this toy's design - <i>and a prime example of those who worked on it missing a trick</i> - is that the vehicle mode's passenger-side searchlight was sculpted onto the same chunk of plastic as the windscreen, <i>so it ends up on Dickie's backpack</i>... It <i>baffles </i>me that no-one thought to make that another accessory, <i>even though it would likely have to have been made to the robot's scale rather than the vehicle's</i>. It almost makes <i>more</i> sense for Dickie Attenbot to wield a searchlight rather than a shotgun, and it would have made for a far more interesting feature on <i>vehicle </i>mode, particularly if it was mounted in a 5mm socket on the bonnet, allowing it to <i>rotate</i>, if nothing else.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>I'm going to admit straight away that I loathe the head sculpt... but, even so, I can appreciate what they were going for</i>. Not least of its problems, it looks far too <i>small</i>, sat in the middle of his broad shoulders, atop so tall a body. Below the ridiculous 'hat', the head <i>somewhat </i>resembles the Autobot insignia, with its massive green lambchop 'sideburns' (<i>or perhaps it's intended to represent a popped collar?</i>) and trapezoid chin chunk. The mouth slit seems superfluous, and the nose seems to sit in front of the recessed visor, <i>ending abruptly at the bridge</i>. Given that there's a little black blob on the <i>back </i>of the 'hat', it looks as though the head was <i>designed</i> to have light-piped eyes but, <i>for some reason</i>, that part was cast in the opaque black plastic... I'd guess it would likely have been painted over even if it <i>was </i>cast in the translucent grey of the car's windows. That 'hat' though... I get the <i>idea </i>of something resembling a hunting hat, but it looks as though the people involved in <i>designing </i>this toy's head couldn't reach an agreement on whether they should reference the <i>smaller</i>-brimmed Tyrolean type, the <i>wider</i>-brimmed Panama/Stetson type, or the sort of tricorn variants popularised by <i>Bloodborne</i>. The end result has <i>elements </i>of each <i>without committing to a specific style</i>, and would have looks <i>less </i>out of place had it <i>not </i>been painted yellow. The <i>craziest </i>thing is that it's a different <i>shade </i>of yellow to that used on vehicle mode, and the head <i>also </i>features the toy's <i>only </i>application of flat grey paint for his face.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">Dickie Attenbot's transformation is <i>every bit as simplistic as one might guess just by glancing at his robot mode</i>. It's essentially the ancient <i>Diaclone</i>-derived car transformation, and about the only thing that makes him <i>unique </i>in transformation is the way a section of the roof folds <i>under </i>his feet... Thing is, <i>that step is entirely unnecessary except to gain access to his ankle tilts</i>. Even then, these panels only need to be <i>untabbed </i>from the roof, and he'll stand perfectly well, <i>ankles tilting freely with the flaps pointing straight up from the feet</i>. The massively gappy upper body <i>could </i>have been closed off a little more simply by <i>allowing the vehicle's front to angle further down</i>, while neither the tab <i>nor </i>the socket protrusion for the backpack needed to be as <i>long </i>as they are, <i>so the backpack could have been smaller and tidier</i>. There's nothing <i>new </i>or <i>innovative </i>here, <i>and it really shows</i>. The fact that the robot's knees are the <i>transformation </i>joint is the sort of thing Hasbro have been doing on their <i>budget </i>figures, or those targeted at the much <i>younger </i>demographic, for years... and it's sad enough to see it make a comeback on the likes of <i>Legacy</i> Skids (<i>to whom this figure bears a passing resemblance in terms of engineering</i>), let alone on what is ostensibly a 'premium collectable' figure in the <i>TransFormers Collaborative</i> selection.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">But if transformation is uninspired and archaic, his articulation is <i>insultingly bad</i>. Sure, he <i>has </i>ankle tilt... but his actual 'knee' transformation joint sits well <i>below </i>the sculpted knee detail, <i>and results in the extremely ugly exposure of a massive chunk of vehicle when the 'knee' is bent</i>. He has the largely <i>ubiquitous </i>upper thigh swivel... <i>but then his hips are ball jointed</i>. Excellent though their <i>range </i>may be, this sort of arrangement has become <i>less </i>common in recent years <i>because ball joints are known to have wonky tolerances</i>. The overall articulation of the legs isn't exactly conducive to dynamic posing... <i>and then they didn't bother putting in a waist joint</i>, which has been a <i>staple </i>in TransFormers toys - <i>even when not required for transformation</i> - over much of the last <i>decade </i>or so. The shoulders, at least, are <i>not </i>ball jointed, and get the standard 360° rotation <i>(with allowances made for his door wings</i>) and 90° swing out to the sides... <i>but then the elbows are ball joints, doubling as bicep rotation and only getting a little bit more than 90° of bend</i>. The wrists <i>only</i> move for transformation, folding into his hollow forearms. The head is on a ball joint, allowing the expected 360° rotation... <i>but the shape of the head permits the barest of tilt in any direction</i>. While a waist joint is probably the <i>most </i>harmful omission in terms of his poseability, he can't support the barrel of the his shotgun with one hand while holding it in the other without the gun being essentially <i>flat against his chest</i>.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">These <i>Collaborative </i>sets have mostly been <i>crap</i>, comprising <i>low-effort</i> repaints and/or reshellings, or uniquely-designed robots <i>that are somehow at least 15 years behind the curve when it comes to TransFormers toys</i>, and invariably the plastic quality has been <i>discernibly lower</i> than mainline releases. This set encompasses the very <i>worst </i>of <i>all </i>those factors. I don't really understand who Hasbro thinks their target market is... <i>but I strongly suspect Hasbro don't know themselves</i>. Tyrannocon looks great in beast mode, but <i>bland </i>in robot mode, <i>and is a waste of an otherwise excellent head sculpt</i>. JP93 is such a <i>poorly-designed, outdated piece of crap</i>, I'm not surprised no-one at Hasbro or Universal tried to come up with a better <i>name</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Tyrannocon is nevertheless the best part of the set, <i>by a wide margin, and despite the shortcomings of her robot mode paint job</i>. Honestly, with the discount I got, it was almost as though Hasbro were <i>paying me</i> to take Dickie Attenbot off their hands... <i>Which is not a situation I find entirely disagreeable</i>. Much as I have disliked the <i>Collaborative</i> concept, this is a set that's worth acquiring at <i>any</i> reasonable discount - <i>the larger, the better</i> - if only for the opportunity to customise and improve Tyrannocon's robot mode. One thing's for certain, the <i>original </i>price tag of about £120 for an <i>undersized </i>Leader class toy and a licensed (<i>presumably</i>) Deluxe class companion was <i>well over the odds</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm certainly glad I <i>didn't</i> pay full price for this set... but, having paid a little over £50 for it, I learned that <i>at least one</i> of the UK-based specialist retailers had dropped their price to £40 <i>just to get rid of their last remaining stock</i>, not even two weeks after I took advantage of Amazon's massive discount... <i>and I honestly can't blame them</i>. What is surprising is that I <i>subsequently </i>saw that Amazon have put their price back <i>up </i>- last I looked, this set was about £67.</div>
Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06528405483770868212noreply@blogger.com0