Hunt for the Decepticons Payload

AKA Revenge of the Fallen Generation 2 Long Haul.

There are a couple of reasons I wasn't interested in picking up RotF Long Haul, not least the difficulty I would have had in trying, since he's not now getting a UK release. The main reason, I guess, is the very bland colour scheme. Sure, it's traditional Constructicon Green... but that's pretty much all it is. The few painted details - a touch of metallic paint here, a reference to vehicle mode detail there - don't break up the sea of green at all. Payload, on the other hand, is molded in black and yellow in almost equal proportions and so makes a functional G2-referencing RotF Long Haul.

This toy isn't even part of the RotF line - it's part of the new, yellow-packaged, general purpose, TransFormers-branded line which will cover pretty much all the new releases... at least until the third movie comes along.

Revenge of the Fallen Mixmaster

After the first live-action TransFormers movie, the fan community was all a-flutter about the possibilities for the future. Would there be Dinobots? Would there be gestalts? Would there be... Devastator?

And while the toys made of RotF Devastator have, by and large, been rather disappointing (the Supreme Class one doesn't give its components individual robot modes, not that the movie suggested Devastator's components even had them; the Legends Class one is not terrible, but is less poseable than its Supreme Class big brother), the toys of the characters who inevitably got labelled 'Constructicons' have been pretty good. Since it's not completely certain that these Constructicons are the ones that form Devastator - in fact, the presentation of the movie suggests that they are definitely not, but this could just be more bad editing as the movie is quite famously a complete jumble - it seems odd that they were given the names of G1 Constructicons... but, then, we all know how much the fans like their G1 characters and names...

And so, we come to RotF Mixmaster - true to the G1 roots, he's a cement mixer in his alternate mode... but this version is a triple-changer (kinda), and seems noteable more for his BFG than his chemical-mixin' ways.

Transformers Collectors' Club 2010 Members Incentive (Timelines) Dion

Dion is a bit of an oddity. The character featured in just one episode of the G1 cartoon - part of War Dawn - and got killed off seconds after being introduced (serves him right for thinking Decepticons are cool just because they can fly). There was never a true G1 toy of Dion because he was just this background character who existed to die, giving Optimus Prime (rebuilt from Dion's friend Orion Pax) a reason to want to rise up and challenge the Decepticons. Even so, when Takara Tomy reissued Kup with Wheelie (one of the most maligned characters and toys from the days of G1), E-Hobby took it upon themselves to repaint the pair as Orion Pax and Dion, respectively. Then, the TransFormers Collectors' Club took it upon themselves to have Dion rebuilt in a new form...

...A new form strangely reminiscent of Armada Hot Shot.

Thankfully, this is the Classics/Universe 2.0 version of Hot Shot, with improved everything... and, furthermore, it's the Japanese version of the mold, which was slightly redesigned to accommodate a pair of spring-loaded missile launchers.

So, how does it stand up, this repaint of a remake?

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.

Yes, I know I'm slow

And, unfortunately, this ain't much of a post. Just wanted to make brief mention that I picked up 3 new RotF-branded toys today - Skystalker, Breakdown (let's give him his proper name, after all, none of this 'Brakedown' rubbish) and N.E.S.T. Brawn.

Brawn stands out as being the most impressive, but he is a Deluxe, while the other two are Scouts. Sure, he has a lot of vehicle mode panels attached to his robot mode, but what really blew me away was the way the roof of the vehicle folds back to form the underside of the forearm/elbow. Talk about excellent engineering, and so true to the style of the Movie models.

Less impressive are the legs... which don't quite suit the upper half of the model... but he's pretty darned good.

Mode details and photos this weekend, weather/other engagements permitting.

Things to come, and not to come...

Well, photography-wise, I'm all but done (G1 excepted, but I've nowhere to display that little lot). I thought I'd photographed my latest Collectors' Club acquisitions (Banzai-Tron and a slightly flawed Skyquake (the replacement Energon/Spark jewel thing is missing)), but apparently not... Can't find the picture files, and haven't already uploaded to Photobucket. That'll be a task for some convenient, sunny day.

In terms of progress on this blog... Yes, I'm still very much behind... But I'm going to have to get a bit more organised as my Photobucket account is all but full. Yes, I could pay for more... but I ain't gonna.

With any luck, I might be able to make a bit of headway on Monday - I'll be out for a good chunk of the day both on Saturday and Sunday - so it's a question of motivation, really.