TF Prime 'Ultimate Opponents' Bumblebee

When I wrote about the mass release of TF Prime Bumblebee, I noted that his anaemic colour and some of the dodgier aspects of his construction left him feeling like a knock-off. Even so, I didn't feel any particular need to pick up the First Edition version and, in fact, when I did acquire one version of FE Bumblebee in the NYCC2011 set with Arcee, Jack and Raf, I happily parted company with New York Cab Bumblebee, giving him to a friend who collects versions of Bumblebee across all continuities.

I did also note that the FE version exhibited several improvements over the mass release... so when another version of FE Bumblebee turned up in a set with another version of FE Starscream, I figured I may as well give him a more serious looking-over.

TF Prime 'Ultimate Opponents' Starscream

I'm going to have to confess to being a little obsessed with the First Edition Starscream mold at some point... Having picked up the original as a result of the awesome TFCC Subscription Service figure Slipstream, I went on to buy the Dark Energon version (which I considered calling 'Skywarp'), then Arms Micron Thundercracker then, as required by my OCD, the 'actual' Skywarp. More recently, while trawling through eBay, I found a TransFormers Prime 'value pack' featuring two First Edition repaints - Starscream and Bumblebee - along with 'companion' figures - Mech commander Silas and one of his nameless, faceless mooks, much like the Jack and Raf figures from the NYCC2011 Arcee and Bumblebee set.

Needless to say, the compulsion came over me...

TransFormers: Prime First Edition Starscream

When I decide I like a mold - particularly if it's made to create some contemporary variation on one of the G1 Seekers, and especially if it makes all three - I tend to make it a mission in life to get as many iterations of the mold as possible. Since the Voyager class version of TF Prime Starscream hasn't - as yet - been reused for anything, I've only got the one instance of that mold. However, the Collectors' Club created a TF Prime-style Timelines Slipstream based on the First Edition mold, and that was pretty spiffy.

Thus hooked, I'm now fairly well on my way to getting all variants of this mold, but the first one I had to get was the original, rather hard to find, Deluxe-sized Starscream... 

New York Comic Con 2011 Arcee

Femme-Bot Friday #13

As you may have gathered from other posts, I'm a sucker for limited editions of any mold I like, but particularly G1-inspired repaints of new models/characters. When I first saw the New York Comic Con 2011 boxed set of Arcee and Bumblebee (with Jack and Raf), only one part of it really appealed to me. Thankfully, I have a friend with a collection of Bumblebees (and who, coincidentally, is quite fond of New York), so I hatched a devious play to acquire the boxed set and palm off NY Cab Bumblebee on her as a birthday present, keeping Arcee for myself.

Jack and Raf ended up staying with me, too...

TransFormers: Prime First Edition Arcee

I have already confessed to a certain bias when it comes to Biker Femme-Bots. Ever since the excellent Superlink/Energon Ariel/Arcee mold and its myriad repaints, I feel that Hasbro/Takara Tomy haven't made a single significant misstep. Motorcycles are ideal for the (admittedly rather sexist) idea of smaller, lighter, more elegant robots in disguise and, even when they go all weird, like the Revenge of the Fallen 'wheelsnakes', I have a certain affection for them simply because they are Biker Femme-Bots.

So when TransFormers: Prime came along, with its smart, capable, battle-hardened, cynical and downright sexy Arcee, I knew I was in for another collection within my collection. I mean, let's face it, when Hasbro finally gives us an Arcee mold, we're inevitably gonna be in for some repaints. Making matters all the more fun, Arcee was one of the precious few TransFormers: Prime figures that got a unique First Edition mold ahead of the regular Robots in Disguise version.

But what's so special about First Editions anyway?

TransFormers: Prime First Edition Bulkhead

When character designs for TransFormers: Prime first started appearing, I thought it was a little odd that they chose to include Bulkhead - technically a creation of the TransFormers Animated team - along with G1 references like Bumblebee (OK, more of a live action movie reference), Cliffjumper, Ratchet and Wheeljack. Additionally, the decision to keep him as 'token fat robot', yet change his character so dramatically seemed a little odd - from a genius-yet-clumsy Space Bridge technician who longs to be an artist to a former labourer, former Wrecker, no-nonsense Autobot brawler. Sure, it suited the darker tone of Prime... but why not create (or recreate) a new character?

Even more odd, Bulkhead was one of the few characters to get a First Edition model, which looked pretty awesome when photos first appeared on the internet, let alone when photos of the terrible, misshapen main line 'Robots in Disguise' release came along. Considering the extra expense and complication of getting my hands on the First Edition, I'd hoped the mainline version would be worth picking up... but it ended up looking nothing like Bulkhead in the TV show. The very next time I saw the First Edition available at a reasonable price, I ordered it. But what it worth all the fuss?

TransFormers Collectors' Club 2013 (Timelines) Slipstream

The second arrival in 2013's TransFormers Collectors' Club Subscription Service was a bit of a surprise. I'd pretty much expected that the most interesting and imaginative items in this year's batch - for me, Slipstream and Ultra Mammoth - would be the last to be sent out, but the Club defied my low expectations. Thing is, now I have Slipstream, there isn't going to be another one that really lights my candle until Ultra Mammoth and, being the largest of the set, he's sure to be the last.

On the upside, if FunPub can keep to the (loosely) monthly schedule of despatches, there's a good chance they'll actually complete 2013's Subscription Service by the end of the year...

Anyway. Slipstream has appeared very briefly in the Club comic - in the final frame on the final page of the epilogue to 'A Flash Forward', sitting around a table in a bar somewhere in Axiom Nexus, playing cards with most of the other Subscription Service figures and Depth Charge. She had no dialogue in that frame and, based on the direction the story has taken for 2013 (Beast Wars: Shattered Glass) it seems unlikely that she'll feature again this year, making her inclusion in the Subscription Service in the first place all the more confusing. I'm sure that, eventually, the Club will tie up all its figures in the Timelines fiction, but I really do wish they'd focus a little more sensibly.

Slipstream appears to be a simple homage to the TF: Animated character originally known only as 'Female Starscream', who represents an undisclosed aspect of Starscream's personality.

TransFormers: Prime - An Overview

Thanks to the wonders of the interwebs, I've been able to watch all three seasons of TransFormers: Prime before the UK DVD releases complete even season one. For a glorified toy commercial, it's one of the best TV series I've seen in a long while, and I'm not limiting that sweeping statement to kids television. It's a finely crafted piece of fiction... and, all things considered, if it's a failure as an advertisement, that's all down to Hasbro and the toyline, not the creative team working on the show.

--SPOILER WARNING!--
Events of the TV series are discussed herein