TransFormers Go! Hunter Soundwave

Takara Tomy's take on the Beast Hunters extension to TF Prime was a bit of a surprise. Most of the beasts/Predacons were incorporated into their TransFormers Go! TV show, but only a few of the non-beast toys made it into the toyline. Shockwave was one, receiving a far better paint job than the Hasbro/Beast Hunters version, and Soundwave was another. While Hasbro's release seemed to channel an old TransFormers Universe toy, Takara Tomy went a bit more traditional...

One might wonder why I'd pick up another version of TF Prime Soundwave when I already have the original TF Prime Deluxe and Hasbro's Beast Hunters version... but remember I also went and bought the Collectors' Club's Old Snake & Advanced Steath BATs set... and read on.

Christmas Haul/Experiments in Photography

Since my girlfriend's family got me a couple of new TransFormers for Christmas, I figured I should take the opportunity to snap a couple of shots using another Christmas present: the large and spiffy light tent. I'm thinking that part of the problem I had with my photos of Trypticon were due to the choice of background colour - the blue fabric - even pre-adjusting the camera for the new environment, the colours came out a bit odd and needed some Photoshop work. As an experiment, I've switched to the white background (the other options are black (much the same as the tent's casing, only with a velvety finish) and red, which probably won't be much use for anything.

Bear in mind also that I've used my old, fairly low-res (3.3 megapixel!) camera as I couldn't quickly find my girlfriend's newer, better one. This camera has real trouble in low-light conditions, introducing multi-colour graininess to everything... So if these are the results that camera can manage, I'm feeling very positive about any photos I take with the newer camera. The only downside to that one is that its Macro function isn't anywhere near as good...

TransFormers Go! Hunter Shockwave

It's been absolutely ages since I last bought an official TransFormer on import... The last time I did it regularly was the Galaxy Force line or Binaltech, though I have picked up a few Alternity models. For the most part, though, Hasbro has done a reasonably good job of bringing figures into UK toy shops, and in some cases their products have been preferable to those from Takara Tomy, if only because they're cheaper.

For example, in the main, Takara Tomy's take on the TransFormers: Prime figures has been a bit weird. The initial run of toys were partnered with 'Arms Microns' - a fairly cool extension of the Unicron Trilogy's Mini-Cons - but with virtually non-existent paintjobs supplemented only by stickers. When Hasbro introduced Beast Hunters, Takara Tomy repurposed the remolded Prime figures and Predacons, adding them - somewhat incongruously - to their TransFormers Go! line. Had I the slightest interest in the Prime Predacons, I'd certainly prefer to buy the Japanese versions simply because they look classier. Only one new figure held any interest for me, however, and that was Shockwave. But while Hasbro decked him out in a rather dull, flat purple, Takara Tomy adjusted the saturation to maximum, giving a much more satisfying colour to the Decepticons' imposing cyclops. Thus, TransFormers Go! Hunter Shockwave went onto my Christmas list... and I shall be forever grateful to my girlfriend's parents for picking him up on my behalf.