Micron Legend Scourge (TV Magazine Exclusive)

There are plenty of folks who like to own every available version of Optimus Prime, and both Hasbro and Takara Tomy are happy to keep up the supply. A friend of mine has had a similar 'thing' for Bumblebees since the first live-action movie, and Hasbro in particular are happy to release a multitude of that character, either refining and improving the model or just repainting the same thing until people realise they're buying literally the same model over and over again. By and large, I have no such compulsions... other than a mild case of Seeker OCD)... and I do like a good Nemesis Prime.

When I first spied this at Memorabilia, on The Space Bridge's stand, they were quick and keen to impress upon me that this was the infinitely superior Takara version, which featured none of the ugly beige plastic of the Hasbro version. Knowing nothing of the Hasbro version, but having an aversion to beige, I was instantly sold. Sure, it's yet another reuse of the Armada/Micron Legend Deluxe class 'Bendy' Optimus Prime, but it's one of a few well-regarded molds in a much maligned series and, let's face it, Nemesis Prime still has a long way to go before he becomes as ubiquitous within the TransFormers toyline as Optimus...

The 'Stink' in Age of Extinction

So, obviously, I've seen the new movie... and the title should suggest I wasn't keen on it. I've read lots of reviews and opinions about the latest entry in the TransFormers franchise, and it seems strangely less divided and more resoundingly positive than the preceding three, despite being - in my humble opinion - one of the worst films I've ever paid to see... and not just because of the Dinobots.

I have to admit first of all that I tend to agree with most of the positive comments people have made about it (more screentime for the robots, more character development for the robots (if you can call it that), and a clearer sense of purpose to most of the characters, both human and robot... In fact, I'd say the human element is far better, generally, in Age of Extinction, than in any of the previous films... But is that enough?

(Some spoilerish bits ahead...)

Masterpiece Soundwave (& Buzzsaw)

This is another one I teased ages ago, and meant to write about more fully soon after but, for whatever reason, didn't get round to. Part of that, I guess, was that it was a rather daunting prospect to write not only about Soundwave and his accessories, but all five of the cassettes packaged with him and all their accessories too.

I'm going to make life (slightly) easier on myself and deal here with Soundwave and Buzzsaw only, since they were packaged together in Generation 1. The remaining cassettes will be dealt with according to their G1 pairings as well: Rumble (red) & Ravage, Frenzy (blue) & Laserbeak.

It Happened! (Sorta)

Well, someone on the interwebs clearly had the same idea as me.


Personally, I think he went a little overboard on the yellow on his torso, legs and arms... he looks distinctly waspish (as opposed to Wasp-ish)... and I'm not sure the Dark of the Moon Roadbuster head is entirely the right choice, but I honestly can't think of a better suggestion.

And, as a proof of concept, it's excellent.

TransFormers Collectors' Club 2014 Members Incentive (Timelines) Rampage

(Members Incentive Monday #10)

When it comes to the Collectors' Club's Members Incentive figures over the last few years, the only consistent element has been their inconsistency. When I first joined, they were in the second year of a 5-year 'plan' which ended up with a semi-custom Energon-style 5-part gestalt with an extremely dubious name. From then on, for a couple of years, there was little discernible reasoning behind them (meaning no connection to BotCon, at least) - there have been two G1-inspired figures and an RiD/Car Robots-inspired figure... But this year's figure seems to tie into last year's - sure, it's a repaint from a different toyline, but it's another Beast Wars character... and this time, it's taking pride of place as one of the main characters in the club comic...

Has the Club started kind of listening to some of my whinges?

Age of Extinction/Generations Evasion Mode Optimus Prime

While I liked the Leader class Optimus Prime toys from the first movie and raved about the almost unbelievably good update for Revenge of the Fallen, both toys suffered in a small way from the inclusion of electronics. These added to the weight of the figures and caused the occasional balance issue. The Voyagers, meanwhile, often ended up with a truck nose backpack and lacked a lot of the detail of the larger format toys.

What I wanted, ideally, was a Leader class figure without the gimmicks, so the space thereby made available could improve both the detail of the model and the 'accuracy' (meaning complexity) of the transformation. While Hasbro will never have the common sense to design TransFormers according to my whims, are they at least going to compromise?