Reveal the Shield Fallback

The TransFormers subline entitled 'Reveal the Shield' was as strange as it was shortlived. By and large, it was a callback to that period of G1 toys which featured heat-activated faction insignias. The bulk of them were also just another part of the ongoing Classics line, but a small handful could be interpreted equally as part of the continuing Revenge of the Fallen toyline due to the ambiguity of their packaging.

Fallback - aka Outback, another name Hasbro lost for a few years - was one such figure. Clearly based on the G1 character, going by his colourscheme, yet a repaint of the movie version of Brawn. So... technically, while I thought Legends class Ravage was the final Revenge of the Fallen toy in my collection, it seems it's actually this one!

TransFormers Collectors' Club 2013 (Timelines) Scourge

As with their first, stumbling steps into being the official TransFormers Collectors' Club, Fun Publications' new 'Subscription Service' hasn't got off to a good start. Announced around the middle of last year, the service was supposed to deliver one of six figures every month, starting January 2013. Pretty much every update from the Club thereafter was about delays, with the starting month getting gradually pushed back due to the almost inevitable 'circumstances beyond their control' (not least the likelihood that Hasbro is gearing up for the fourth live action movie toys)... All this, despite the fact that a similar service for FunPub's GI Joe Collectors' Club has been in operation for years...

And so, six months later than initially advertised, the Subscription Service figures are starting to appear... and we kick off with yet another Nemesis Prime/Scourge...

Reveal the Shield Strafe

One of Hasbro's stranger habits is releasing the same mold in two different colourschemes, but with exactly the same head sculpt, where one version is an Autobot and the other is a Decepticon. In many instances, this works well enough, as the colourschemes and paint layouts are sufficiently different that a very different character clearly emerges.

Reveal the Shield Strafe is a strange homage to one of the G1 Technobots, so the mold originally given to Revenge of the Fallen Mindwipe seems a rather odd choice, not least in the choice of size class. In fact, this mold was also used as a Japanese exclusive update of G2 Dreadwind/g (which, in my humble opinion, probably should have been Soundwave). Also, considering the 'partner' Scout mold, Skystalker (repainted as Laserbeak and G2 homage Smokescreen - aka Smokejumper) has never been released as an Autobot, it seems extremely strange for this mold to be used for one of the good guys... But does it work?

Reveal the Shield Wreck-Gar

The 1986 Animated movie came under a lot of fire for a lot of reasons (killing Optimus Prime, replacing him with the slightly rubbish Rodimus Prime, etc., etc.), but it's rarely acknowledged for the fun, new characters it brought to the table... largely because the toys were so poor. Wreck-Gar, leader of the Junkions (sentient transforming robots who seem to have had some kind of parallel evolution to Cybertronians, and were built out of junk) was a prime example. Cursed with a crummy toy that looked nothing like the animation model, he was, nevertheless, an amusing character, not least thanks to Eric Idle's voice work. Ignored until TransFormers Animated, Wreck-Gar - along with some other Junkions - has enjoyed something of a renaissance since, and the Reveal the Shield branch of Classics/Universe took him back to his roots.

Reveal the Shield Lugnut

Now here's something strange and special... A new character created for the TransFormers Animated aesthetic has jumped continuities into the extended Classics/Universe line. Strange choice, considering how many characters from G1 (and, of course, the many subsequent lines) there are to get through before Animated, which is still only a couple of years old. There were plenty of nods to other continuities within Animated, but this is the only the second time it's happened this way round (the first being Lockdown). Do Animated characters need or deserve such reimagining?

Well, in Lugnut's case, I'd say he probably needed it. The Animated toy, while Voyager Class, was actually surprisingly small in robot mode - almost wider than he is tall - with giant, unwieldy arms on a chunky body held up by spindly legs. OK, fine, that's a basic description of the whole TFA aesthetic, so it's no surprise... but Lugnut in the cartoon is huge, and his proportions look OK when he's towering over everyone. When he's shorter than some of the Deluxe figures, it doesn't work quite so well.