Show Haul

Nope, not BotCon - still haven't managed to get myself over to the States for one of them - but the London Film & Comic Con, which I attended today with a friend. The last one I went to was a huge disappointment to me, largely because the of dearth of TransFormers merchandise, so I wasn't holding out much hope for this one. Yes, I took a fair chunk of money with me, but my rationale was "if I don't spend it, I've got cash for groceries, etc for the next few weeks."

The show looked like an utter shambles... from the long queue outside (on a hot, sunny day), through the three slow-moving ticket queues, to the two staffed entry doors, and into a vast hall which was mostly empty space and barging people, with a few densely-packed zones for general retail, specific memorabilia, arty things and, of course, celebrity guests. The organisers need to take a long hard look at their show's presentation. No doubt it makes lots of money - the few stallholders I spoke to for any length of time had been making excellent money for all three days of the show - but the guests are unlikely to look fondly upon the show when it looks like it's occurring in a shanty town inside Earls Court Two.

As it turned out, though, my friend and I made out like bandits. She was looking for a present for a young relative, and I recommended one of the new TF Generations Legends Megatron and Chopshop. Actually, 'recommended' is too strong a word. I asked which would be the preferred vehicle, tank or plane, and the tank won.

There was also a good selection of Bumblebees to add to her collection, and she came away with the spiky Beast Hunters remold, the Dark Energon version (essentially a semi-transparent, glittery homage to Goldbug) and a First Edition. On the way out, I remarked that there's another FE pack that she might like to go halves on, if it turns up: the New York Comic Con version, where she - a former New Yorker - could have FE Bumblebee as a New York cab, and I'd take FE Arcee in the G1 colourscheme.

My own luck was similarly good - I walked away with a FE Starscream, a Beast Hunters Legends Jet Vehicon (since it's unlikely I'll see the full size version), the Japanese TF United Windcharger/Wipe-Out 2-pack and an iGear Bushwacker.

Full writeups to come (eventually - you know by now how long these things can take!), but my initial impressions are as follows:

FE Starscream: Better than the Voyager in some ways - far tidier, for example. Probably rather more complicated, too... but the arm extension joint feels like it could break quite quickly.
TFPBH Jet Vehicon: Pretty darned neat, for the size, though the weapon's pegs don't fit very well in some of the vehicle mode's holes, and not having the head fold away at all seems a bit rubbish.
TFU Windcharger/Wipe-Out: Nice G1 referencing, and rather amusing that, just like 80s Knight Rider vs. 2008 Knight Rider, what was once a Trans Am is now a Ford Mustang. Sorta. Hey, they both transform, too!
iGear Bushwacker: Far larger than I'd expected, but an OK update of one of my favourite G1 Mini Autobots, though it feels unfinished and some parts don't fit especially well.

Shout-outs to All The Cool Stuff, Toyz and Gamez and Moving Pictures for being especially cool, and making my visit to the LFCC today worthwhile.

DotM Mechtech Thundercracker

I have to confess that, when I first heard that Starscream in the the Dark of the Moon toyline would be Deluxe Class, I was pretty disappointed. While the Voyager Class models from both the original movie and Revenge of the Fallen were flawed in their own ways, both were reasonable interpretations of some fairly impossible CGI. The closest version up to this point had been the largest, so how on Earth would they make a halfway decent version of the movie Seekers using a smaller scale?

Since I was perfectly happy with my Leader and Voyager Class models for Starscream, Hasbro attempted to trigger my Seeker OCD as they did with the first movie, by repainting this model as Thundercracker (while only Japan got a Skywarp out of this mold!). When I found him on the cheap in one of my local toyshops, I figured he was worth a try, if only to show some willing with the otherwise quite disappointing Dark of the Moon toyline.

War for Cybertron Soundwave

I should stress, first of all, that this is the first release - the Deluxe, not the all-singing, all-dancing Voyager which can make use of the 'data disc' minions.

Transformers have always seemed to be an ideal property for videogames, making it baffling that Hasbro haven't pursued the idea more thoroughly. That said, what few games there have been were largely terrible - I believe the game based on Armada was better-received than the TV series (not hard!), but it took until High Moon Studios' War for Cybertron, a game which recounted the beginnings of the war which eventually let Optimus Prime, Megatron, et al to leave their home planet and wind up on Earth. It was only natural that Soundwave would play a part, but how did he turn out?

Universe Red Alert

Every so often, a TransFormers toy enters my collection as a gift. When it's a birthday present, chances are I bought it myself and then handed it over to a family member in exchange for a refund (sometimes that's easier for them than trying to pick out a present themselves). This one, however, was a gift from a friend and correspondent in the States, and came as quite a surprise when I opened the package.

Galaxy Force Demolishor

Construction vehicles are nothing new to the TransFormers toyline - there's a grand tradition, particularly with the Decepticons, of these giant alien robots disguising themselves as machines involved in building. I guess it's a good cover for building all those weapons of mass destruction, but it does seem strange that the faction who are intent on destroying are the most likely ones to turn into machines used to create.

The Galaxy Force/Cybertron line featured a whole planet populated by giant robots, neither Autobot nor Decepticon, who lived to build... but there was one construction vehicle which was a Decepticon from the start...

TransFormers: Prime Vehicon (Car)

One thing the TransFormers line has missed out on, by and large, as a character-driven property, is the 'nameless, faceless mook' or 'troop builder'. Granted, even the G1 TV series pilot featured random, unlikely-looking characters who existed only to get blown up (or cause excessive OCD in some fans), but they never came out as toys. Energon featured Omnicons and the Terrorcons, which could function as troop-builders... but most of them were such dull toys and from such a poorly-received series, I can't imagine most fans buying more than one, if any.

Then came TransFormers: Prime, which has almost made a virtue of having literally nameless, faceless Vehicons making up the bulk of Megatron's forces. But are they nothing more than a throwback to the bad old days of the Terrorcons, or are they something a bit special..?