TransFormers Collectors' Club 2008 Exclusive (Timelines) Seacons Boxed Set

Funny thing: Back in the day, I bought all the G1 Seacons apart from Snaptrap, who I just never found. The Seacons turned up in the Marvel comics, and seemed pretty cool. Two of them transformed into robot fish (kind of like Sharkticons, in that they had arms and legs), one was a lobster, one was a ray and one... Well, I don't think it's ever been adequately explained what the hell Tentakil is supposed to be...

Somewhere along the lines, the Seacons popularity grew to near mythical proportions, putting them almost alongside the Predacons in the collective consciousness of the fandom. The Seacons were cool. Each one had a weapon mode, effectively making each one a TargetMaster as well as a component in the gestalt. They formed Piranacon. Piranacon was awesome.

And then, as an adult collector, a set like this comes along...

TransFormers (Movie) Bonecrusher

If there's one thing you can say about the Michael Bay TransFormers movies, it's that the designers working on the robots were unafraid to ignore 25 years of TransFormers history, and strike out into their very own continuity. While the toys back in the day tended to transform into something vaguely humanoid (albeit rather boxy), ILM took the concept of 'alien robots' to heart, creating something very different.

It almost seems strange, then, to have used so many recognisable names from Generation 1, while giving the robots associated with those names such a massive overhaul, both in look and in purpose. Bonecrusher, for example, was one of the Constructicons back in G1. For the first TransFormers movie, however, he became a rage-fuelled engine of destruction, fixated on Optimus Prime, and with no affiliation to the Constructicons who (arguably) appeared in Revege of the Fallen.

OK, I'm crap...

Yes, yet another long hiatus... Due to ennui and Xenoblade Chronicles (and Metroid: Other M... and Zelda: Twilight Princess...), I have spent rather too long away from this blog and many other bits of writing.

I'd like to say I'll be getting back on track now, but that would probably be a lie.

Oh well...

Addendum

I don't quite understand how I managed this, but I found today that there was yet another toy in my collection that I hadn't taken photos of - Revenge of the Fallen Chromia. That has now been rectified, so that should be one of the write-ups I get round to as soon as I get my arse in gear...

Also, somewhat reluctantly, I have added 'Entry Mode' to my writeup of Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Ravage. It's a rubbish alternate mode, but it's there... Similarly rubbish is Mixmaster's so-called Cannon Mode, now added to the voyager toy's write-up.

Also put in a few links between Leader Class Starscream and the couple of 'Stop Press' addenda I wrote.

Alternators Sunstreaker

Binaltech was a line that missed many opportunities - the sort of 20th Anniversary celebration that left many people wondering exactly what went on in Takara's strategy meetings. Sure, it came along before the TransFormers movie franchise kicked the toymaking into a higher gear and, yes, there were several key motor car manufacturers who still - irrationally - did not wish to associate with 'war toys', but when you create Sideswipe out of a Dodge Viper SRT-10, surely it's natural to create Sunstreaker out of the souped up version, isn't it? And yet the remixed model, with it's bespoilered rear end, and a head sculpt that was clearly Sunstreaker, was first released as a Decepticon, Dead End... and it was up to Hasbro's Alternators line to correct this most grievous error...

TransFormers Collectors' Club BotCon 2006 (Timelines) Unit-2/Tigatron

Since I still haven't got myself to over BotCon, all of my exclusives either came via the Collectors' Club (in the unlikely event that any were left over after the convention) or eBay. Tigatron is one such figure, bought as a companion piece to the Dawn of Futures Past set that I picked up at a show in the UK. He's a straight redecoration of the boxed set's Cheetor figure in Tigatron's traditional white, black and minty green.