Bludgeon will always seem to me to be a weird addition to the live action movie toylines. Originally a G1 Pretender, his shell was a ghostly samurai in orange armour (because Pretender technology makes for a perfect disguise!) and he transformed from a dumpy robot into a dumpy tank. The first movie Bludgeon appeared in a two-pack, as a repaint of Wreckage packaged with a repaint/remold of Blackout as Whirl. For the extended Revenge of the Fallen toyline, something entirely new was created, going back to his roots, but in a startling and original way.
Dropping plastic crack-related litter in the zen garden of your mind since 2008
Showing posts with label NEST Alliance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NEST Alliance. Show all posts
Monday, 25 May 2015
Monday, 19 July 2010
N.E.S.T. Global Alliance Evac
Helicopters have had a raw deal in the TransFormers line for many years, and it's really only been in the most recent lines that this has improved in any significant way. Galaxy Force produced the excellent Live Convoy (coincidentally named Evac in the US/UK version of the story) and the original live action movie gave us the awesome - though undersized - Blackout.
Perhaps there's something about helicopters and scale, because this latest one - originally used as Blazemaster in the RotF line - is easily the smallest Deluxe in the entire line. Rotor blades may well fill most of the packaging and make them awkward to keep in scale, but this thing is pretty ridiculous...
Perhaps there's something about helicopters and scale, because this latest one - originally used as Blazemaster in the RotF line - is easily the smallest Deluxe in the entire line. Rotor blades may well fill most of the packaging and make them awkward to keep in scale, but this thing is pretty ridiculous...
Sunday, 6 June 2010
N.E.S.T. Global Alliance Brawn
One of the more interesting effects of the TransFormers movies is that lesser-known characters from Generation 1 are being reborn in its wake. No appearance in the movies themselves, yet the character is re-imagined and recreated in the Movie style. Some of them are familiar designs with new names attached, thanks to trademark issues, then others are familiar designs with 100% authentic G1 names attached. Brawn is an example of the latter.
It is almost ironic that the movies have spent very little time on characterising the robots involved, yet the toyline develops small nuggets of backstory not only for them, but for these extra characters as well. It's almost a toyline advertising a film franchise, rather than the other way round.
Back in the days of G1, Brawn initially got a fair bit of page space in the comics - including a story of his very own, where he went completely nuts - while appearing very little in the cartoon. His few appearances did very little to show anything of his character, other than being ever ready to punch some Decepticons in the face. They didn't even touch on the one weakness listed on his Tech Specs, meaning he became little more than Generic Cannon Fodder. I wonder if Generation 1 would be done better today... perhaps written by the folks behind Beast Wars? With 12+ episodes per series, surely more could be done to develop each character? That just wasn't a priority back in the 80s. Still, New Brawn has even less character - on the UK packaging, all it tells you about him is that he's after Rampage, one of the Deluxe Decepticons from the same wave.
It is almost ironic that the movies have spent very little time on characterising the robots involved, yet the toyline develops small nuggets of backstory not only for them, but for these extra characters as well. It's almost a toyline advertising a film franchise, rather than the other way round.
Back in the days of G1, Brawn initially got a fair bit of page space in the comics - including a story of his very own, where he went completely nuts - while appearing very little in the cartoon. His few appearances did very little to show anything of his character, other than being ever ready to punch some Decepticons in the face. They didn't even touch on the one weakness listed on his Tech Specs, meaning he became little more than Generic Cannon Fodder. I wonder if Generation 1 would be done better today... perhaps written by the folks behind Beast Wars? With 12+ episodes per series, surely more could be done to develop each character? That just wasn't a priority back in the 80s. Still, New Brawn has even less character - on the UK packaging, all it tells you about him is that he's after Rampage, one of the Deluxe Decepticons from the same wave.
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