A Little Plane

Skyhammer is the wavemate of Heavytread and because of this he has always lived in Heavytread's shadow, and never seemed as interesting as the Autobot tank. Skyhammer's plane mode is quite dull looking, but is actually nicely detailed and painted. Like Heavytread, Skyhammer features a camouflage colourscheme; in this case a blue-gray combination. The underside is quite bulky, but not horribly so, particularly for a figure this size. The rear landing gear is permanantly deployed but the nose wheel can be folded away. An orange peg can be flipped up between his tailfins to attach his minicon airlift in his vehicle weapon mode.

The transformation is similar in many ways to the wave one Skyburst, with the arms and legs stored in a very similar manner and the cockpit ending up on the robot mode chest. The most distinctive feature in robot mode is the position of the wings which stick out from his shoulders and back, positioned so as to not get in the way of the arms, it looks a little haphazard, but in a practical sense it works better than keeping them flat. His legs look a bit too wide for the rest of him, but apart from this his proportions are good. Airlift can be rearranged so he can be held in this mode, exchanging the socket for vehicle mode for a handle for Skyhammer to hold.

Skyhammer's torso mode is one of the tallest in the line, and whilst he has a somewhat lanky build he manages to avoid looking skinny. Rather than simply switching heads, Skyhammer instead gets a helmet and goggles over his existing one. It creates a different look whilst adding the mass necessary for this mode. The wings now point straight up and are held in place by the folded robot arms. Articulation here is pretty standard, but the way his legs are formed hinders his hip movement. Airlift can form a chestplate (not very good) or put into his own robot mode (recommended).

Skyhammer is a good indication of the progress this line has made, compared to wave one Skyburst there are a lot of refinements. Whist he may not be as popular as Heavytread, he is still well worth a look.

Autobot Tankdozer

It is unfortunate that the Transformers Power Core Combiners line is ending; whilst it didn't start on the best footing, the overall quality of the line has increased with each wave of new figures. Coming from the same wave as the Constructicons and Dinobots I've already looked at, Heavytread with Groundspike shows the progress that the two packs have made alongside the five packs.

Heavytread turns into a large (for the price) tank in a vaguely desert based camouflage, with some yellow and drab green areas. His minicon groundspike can form a large mine plow that can be attached to the front of the tank on a flip out post. There is a lot of subtle detail on every surface of the tank, and though I won't pretend to know what it all represents, I'm sure that it is all based off real features of real tanks. There are four wheels embedded in the treads, and the turret is capable of a full rotation. The only weaknesses in this mode are apparent from the back, two of the blue blocks are visible and the rear of the vehicle is somewhat incomplete.

Robot mode is as bulky as you would expect from something that was just a tank. More of the dark green comes into play here, as well as the black treads commanding more attention. For being so bulky he is surprisingly articulated, with ankle joints being the only noticable ommision. There is more than a hint of G1 Brawl in this guy's design, despite him being an autobot, the blocky head and position of the main gun are similar. Groundspike can be put in his own robot mode or can become a large claw weapon that fits over Heavytread's right hand.

Heavytread's torso mode is one of the bulkiest of the line, with a larger but equally blocky head and the entire front of the tank forming his chest and shoulders. The turret is cleverly turned into an asymmetrical backpack. Groundspike can form a chestplate for this mode, but like most of the other minicons in the line this mode falls a bit flat compared to his other modes. Whilst he doesn't come with any drones of his own, Heavytread can utilise those from any of the five packs, and looks best with the Combaticons or their redecos. He forms the core of a stumpy but imposing combination that gives the impression of a lot of mass.

I really do like the Power Core line, the two-pack figures in particular are a lot of fun and feel much more substantial than the similarly priced scout class figures. It's a pity that these guys are becoming hard to find, and are often marked up slightly compared to earlier waves. Heavytread is worth it though, even if you don't have any drones, he is a great little standalone figure.

I Scream, You Scream

I feel that many fans don't acknowledge what the live action Transformers movies have done for the Transformers brand. Transformers post-2007 became much more oriented towards nostalgia, and about delivering exactly what the fans want. Fan favorite lines such as the 2008 Universe and 2010 Generations lines would not have been able to exist without the awareness and money brought in by the film franchise. Even the 2006 classics line existed only to prepare nostalgic fans for the boom about to take place in the Transformers world. Now on its third film, the franchise is as devisive as ever, but it is difficult to deny the fact that the movies brought something for every Transformers fan.

The massive success of the first movie line caught Hasbro by surprise, meaning that what later waves were filled with was basically filler. After Revenge of the Fallen, more preparation was made, and the Hunt for the Decepticons line was rolled out.

Starscream was the largest truly new figure in the line. Fans had been asking for a leader class Starscream for some time (those who weren't moaning about how the movies had ruined the brand forever), and he was a popular enough character in traditional markets (i.e. children) for it to happen. Starscream is based on his appearance in Revenge of the Fallen, his otherwise accurate F-22 Raptor mode covered in Cybertronian markings. The jet mode is nicely detailed and decently proportioned; although in order to avoid parts sticking out the fuselage is somewhat bulkier than would be realistic, the shape is about right but it has been stretched vertically to a degree in order to fit all the robot parts. There are three landing gear components that can be unfolded, each features a rolling wheel. Underneath there is also a deployable missile launcher and a compatible missile is stored under each wing. Pressing the decepticon logo behind the orange cockpit activates lights and sounds.

Converting him to robot mode is complex, but not as awkward as that of the otherwise stunning leader Optimus. The robot mode accurately represents the unconventional design, and whilst it looks a little off in his static 'in the box' pose, once he starts moving he really starts to shine. There is a huge amount of detail carried over from the CGI model and many parts move in tandem with joints, helping poses look natural. His legs have all the neccesary motion, and the arms do okay other than the forever absent rotation at the wrist, but it is the shoulder joints that truly make this figure. As well as traditional joints, there is a second swivel to allow for shrugging motions and a third torso joint on each side that allows him to flex his entire chest inwards. These joints perform what wold have before seemed impossible and allow for very natural stances for the strangely proportioned body. This is the first figure I have which can convincingly fold it's arms - in a normally shaped figure this would be quite something, in a figure with as broad a chest as Starscream it is quite frankly astounding. As well as his posability, features include additional electronics activated by pulling down on his cockpit, weapons hidden in his arms, and the ability to deploy the missile launcher from vehicle mode by attaching it to his folded up hand. The launcher and both missiles can be stored on his back when not in use.

Movie leader figures have been a bit hit and miss for Hasbro, whilst Optimus Prime tends to turn out well, other characters rarely feel as worthwhile. After Jetfire, I was hesitant to pick up another leader class jet, but on clearance at a third of his RRP I finally made the purchase and am glad I did. This is a fantastic figure for those who like the movie styling, and for those who don't, stop complaining and go play with your Generations Darkmount that this guy made possible.

Apologies

I must give my apologies to all my dedicated readers (I see you back there pretending this isn't the site you were looking for). Due to the untimely illness of my laptop I have been unable to post reviews. Normal merely unreliable service shall resume tomorro...ish.

Always Blame your Tooling

Reveal the Shield Grapple (Solar Storm Grappel on the packaging) is a retool of the single new Voyager mould from the 2008/9 Universe line. Inferno was a fantastic figure, but the design of his vehicle mode seemed to render a Grapple retool impossible. The shape of the truck didn't lend itself to carrying a crane arm, and anything on the top of the vehicle would end up attached to the robot's arms, not the right place for the crane to be.

None of this has stopped Hasbro from giving us this figure though, and it has come out surprisingly well. A few new side panels replace Inferno's water pipes with more suitable detailing, and the water cannon is replaced by an extending crane arm. The yellow is bright without hurting the eyes, with details in black and a nice grey. The roof lights are orange to complete the conversion from fire engine to construction vehicle.

Robot mode also gets a selection of new parts. Grapple has a new head, new arms, hands and even new toes. Unfortunately, he is somewhat of a step down in articulation from Inferno, the crane mounted on his right arm severely hinders movement and the wrists are moulded onto the arms and are unable to rotate like Inferno's. Besides this the robot mode is every bit as nice as Inferno's, the legs have a fantastic range of motion, the shoulders are strong and the head is mounted on a nice balljoint. Both modes share the feeling of solidness that made Inferno so popular, in fact the solid arm panels give Grapple the edge in this area.

It is hard to see this guy without directly comparing him to Inferno, and Hasbro has obviously put a lot of effort into ensuring that Grapple feels different. As an update to the character design, Grapple falls slightly short due to the layout of both modes, but he is still a great toy, particularly if you missed Inferno, but recommended even if you didn't.

Worth Tracking Down

The 2008 Universe line of Transformers broke new ground in many ways, but the biggest impact was left by the shared mould of Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. Whilst that is a story for another day, it is clear that these figures inspired the parts sharing of Tracks and Wheeljack.

Tracks turns into a blue supercar of indeterminite model. There are a lot of angles here, and the car is actually quite ugly on a design level; looking like it was built for function over form, somewhat different to the norm in a modern Transformers line.  The cartoony flame design from the G1 toy has been replaced with a more modern tribal style flame. This has caused a lot of argument within the fandom, but personally I like the update. As with the original, two white missiles are visible under the doors. The vehicle can assume a somewhat unconvincing flying car mode; although tweaking the official conversion improves it somewhat and it is nice that the designers made the effort.

Robot mode is very close to the G1 model, with typical classics upgrades to articulation and proportions. The controversial flame detail isn't visible on the front of the robot, instead a lot more white comes into play, and Tracks's distinctive red face is faithfully reproduced. The missiles from the vehicle modes are now on his shoulders, not taking up as much space as on the G1 toy but with just as much visual impact. The wings, along with his leg detail mark this out as Tracks, despite the proportions being more skewed towards Wheeljack. This follows the pattern set by Sunstreaker of the less accurate member of such a pair seeing release first, and is a wise move by Hasbro in my opinion.

From the first images of Tracks it was clear that this mould had more than meets the eye to it. With Wheeljack now released in the USA, people are noting exactly how much work went into making each character unique. Tracks is very much his own character, and was a great start for the Reveal the Sheild line.

Taking us Back

The first thing that comes to mind when you mention Autobots is robots turning into cars; its right there in the name after all. The 2007 Classics line aimed at making as many major characters as it could in the short time it had, and as such the only character we got from the 1984/85 autobot cars assortment -the main class of figures in the original line- was Mirage. It wasn't until the 2008 Universe line that Hasbro stretched their wings in producing these characters, there was barely a wave without one or two in it's selection of figures. But still Hasbro had missed a few tricks, in particular one of the most popular characters in the original cartoon and one of the the few to make it into the 2007 movie, was well overdue an update.

Reveal the Sheild Jazz was worth the wait. Next to older figures the progress that the Takara engineers have made is obvious, and finally the character has a worthy toy. Vehicle mode is a mix between aspects of the G1 toy and the movie prop car, being a small two door sportscar in classic (unbranded) Martini racing colours. The vehicle mode is solid and well detailed, although the rear end is lacking paint somewhat. There is a small spoiler just behind his roof, on which his rubsign is situated. The doors can open in order to deploy a pair of speakers, a nod to the character's love of music.

Despite it's small size, the vehicle unfolds into a robot as large as any of the other deluxe Autobots. The result is a very nicely proportioned figure instantly recognisable as Jazz. There is a large amount of usable articulation including a balljointed neck and double hinges on his knees and elbows. His feet are sculpted at an angle to allow natural stances and his fists are the newer open style, and despite troubles I've had with similar ones on other figures Jazz's have caused me no problems. The vehicle mode speakers can be attached to his handgun to make it larger or simply deployed over his sholders as in vehicle mode; although this is somewhat at odds with his stern expression. The only issue Jazz suffers from is a lack of locking mechanism for his chest, only apparent when moving his arms and easy to overcome.







With their current rush of post 1986 characters it's good to see that Hasbro haven't forgotten older favorites. This figure has been well worth the wait, and with only Trailbreaker and Hoist remaining of the first two years of Autobot cars, we seem to be approaching the end of an era in the classicsverse, but who better to herald it than someone who ought to have been in the first wave.

A Glorious Event

Whilst Transformers Animated played out mostly as a massive reference to Generation 1, the show was not afraid to introduce new main characters. Normally with a small cast the largest Autobot and Decepticon will be Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively, Animated turned this convention on it's head with the introduction of Bulkhead and Lugnut; large, powerful characters made to fill in the niche for dumb muscle. Both characters were well written and interesting, and proved popular with fans. Bulkhead had his fair share of toys in the Animated toyline, but Lugnut was always grossly under-represented. Luckily, Hasbro has siezed this oppertunity to introduce him into the G1 universe, and in the process give him the toy that animated never could.

Lugnut is a Voyager class figure, a size which in the Animated line gave him a tiny robot mode, a vehicle mode built to fit in too small a box and generally left him in the shadow of the larger Leader class figures. Thankfully, in the new 2010 style packaging, Lugnut is packaged in robot mode, and this combined with the fact that classics Ultras are rare and Leaders unheard of stands him in far better stead as the juggernaut he should be. There's more than a hint of movie Blackout in this design, the way the upper body and legs form are aestheticly similar. His shoulders are two massive jet intakes, whilst his arms are long yet bulky chunks of wing. The rear of his plane mode is visible on his back, whilst the front is split over his chest. The articulation is a huge improvement over his Animated namesake, with nice touches like jointed fingers, neck and even jaw. The headsculpt is unmistakable, and as a reference to his signature attack both arms have spring loaded punching attacks. There is a single missile launcher in his tail that can be used in either mode, but in all honesty its best left ignored, Lugnut has plenty of other, better features.

Lugnut's vehicle mode is proof that packaging voyager figures in robot mode is a good idea, the plane is enormous and there is no way it would have fit in a voyager box without some serious mistransforming. There isn't a single source of inspiration for this mode; rather it is an amalgamation of a variety of elements from both WW2 and modern bomber aircraft. The front of the plane features both a conventional and gunner's cockpit, complete with painted shark's teeth. The midsection is dominated by the massive engines and long wings, with LU6NU7 written across them in the sort of reference Hasbro is fond of. There are large turrets on either side of the cockpit and a smaller one at the end of the fuselage past the tail.

Some figures are events, figures that are so great everyone should own them. Recently it has become more and more difficult to tell these figures from normal 'good' figures, such has the overall quality improved over the past couple of lines, but I think Lugnut may be such an event.

So Good I want an army of them

Scourge is the next addition to the classics 1986 Transformers. There's never been as much controversy over Scourge's identity as with Cyclonus, and in general, in spite of having the character quirk of commanding an army of clones he often lives in the shadow of the other characters.Finally with this new interpretation he's finally getting some attention.

Scourge's alt-made is simply fantastic. The colourscheme suits the character whilst the flying wing shape is a good replacement for the flying boat of the original. There is virtually nothing hanging off, everything is made up of smooth curves. Three bits of landing gear can be lowered and as a nod to the G1 design the head can pop up from the back of the plane.

The transformation is innovative and features some nice touches such as leaving the middle engine visible on his back and the interesting way his arms form. The end result is instantly recognisable as Scourge, with the head, chest and gun taken straight from the G1 design. The wings on his back form his trademark cape, whilst the front of the aircraft forms his feet.














This really is a good figure, showcasing why these lines are so popular with fans. If it weren't for the fact that I'd have to pay import prices for them I'd already have three of these guys, as it is the figure is good enough that I'm considering it anyway.

One to Pic Kup

The biggest issue that Hasbro is facing in it's current quest to release classics versions of the 1986 lineup is the question of vehicle modes. Many of the '86 toys were new moulds to reflect the cartoon's new future setting, but these alt-modes were often hit-or-miss with the fandom. Hasbro (and Takara) are so far showing good judgement in which alt-modes to keep and which to update, with iconic vehicle modes like those of Rodimus and Cyclonus being left as is whilst some of the lesser loved ones such as those of Blurr or Scourge are being given updates.

Kup falls into the latter category, exchanging his strange, open ended future truck with a realistic pickup. It's a nice mode, moulded in a slightly shimmery dull green-blue and featuring slightly outdated styling, a nod to his character's age. The truck bed is nicely detailed and due to his transformation his tailgate can open. The robot mode weapon can be stored underneath where it forms an exhaust pipe, or can be clipped onto his roof.

An iteresting conversion process leavs a robot mode that is clearly Kup, from the distictve arms to the small windsheild below his face. The way the sides of his chest fold in is quite novel, and the way his kneecaps form is nice. The wheels hanging of his arms are a little unweildy, but there is enough motion to allow him to pull off 'crazy old man with a big gun' poses with his Laser Musket. Overall he is another nice figure for the classics shelf.

A sound purchase

As much as I like the other War for Cybertron designs, I always felt Soundwave's was a little lacking. The robot mode seemed a bit too 'soundwave, only spikier' and the vehicle mode was just a van with his chestplate on the front.

Soundwave's robot mode feels a little awkward to me. Whilst Optimus and Megatron managed to incorporate a lot of the vehicle elements into the robot form, with Soundwave a lot of bits seem to hang off inelegantly. Some of this is accurate to the character design, so not all of the fault lies with the figure itself.

It isn't all bad, the figure is nicely articulated and there is a neat feature whereby his two weapons can be stored in his chest in either mode.

Vehicle mode is an improvement. Everything fits solidly and looks far more coherent than in robot mode. I wasn't too keen on the donwards slope of the roof when I first saw photos, but thankfully it is more subtle in person. The purple is perhaps a little dull, Soundwave lacks the boldness of the other War for Cyberton figures and I think that a shinier paintjob might have helped in this regard.

In the game, Sounwave interfaces with the Kaon security system by turning into an approximation of the G1 cassette deck mode, and thanks to the power of fanmodes, your's can do the same! Do yourself a favor and don't bother, there is no way to make it look right, and it is nowhere near as convincing as the microscope mode for RTS Perceptor, which was already a bit of a stretch.

I can't help but feel that I'm missing something with this figure, from what I can tell through my difficulty getting hold of him he has been quite popular, and I can't really tell why. He's not bad by any means, but he also doesn't really seem worth the scalpers' prices some people are paying.

A Beastly Homage

Back in Generation 1, the Dinobots and Constructicons were presented somewhat as rivals. Both were weapons of mass destruction for their respective factions, culminating in a memorable scene in the 1986 movie where they fought at Autobot City. The dinobots were often at a disadvantage due to the constructicons' combining ability. Fans had hoped for years for a dinobot combiner, then when it happened in one of the comics they immediately wished it hadn't.

Coming in the same wave as the constructicons, Grimstone with Dinobots is the first toy based on this concept, and thankfully many of the details have been altered. These may be dinobots, but as with the constructicons, they are not the Dinobots. Grimstone is a nice commander figure with slightly unusual proportions, his hips are very wide, and combined with his hoof-like feet this gives him a very animalistic appearance. Grimstone turns into a robotic triceratops, although he has also inherited styracosaurus's signature neck spikes. Both modes have decent articulation, and thankfully transformation is a bit more involved than the 'stand up and swap heads' approach often used with animal transformers.

Grimstone is accompanied by four drones, and in this case they are actually quite large, a couple as big as Grimstone himself. These are: a parasaurolophus, an ankylosaurus, a pachycephalosaurus and a spinosaurus which looks oddly like it might actually be a dimetrodon. All of them are in a similar gray, gold and red colourshceme which has come to be asociated with dinobots.

The combined mode is unique within the power core line in having a uniform look, the colours are unified throughout the whole form and the combination looks more natural than some of the others in the line. The large Drones lead to a bulky robot with large feet, everything feels solid and the combination is very stable. The articulation is average for the line, with full hips, knees and shoulders and little else. The large head has a decent range of motion and one of his hands can open and close.

This set seems to defy the concept of Power Core somewhat; rather than being made with interchangability in mind it seems to focus on working as it's own searate unit. For this reason it has been popular with those who are otherwise uninterested in the line. Whilst on an engineering basis it may not be quite as good as the constructicons, it is certainly a unique idea and worth the money for that alone.

Constructicons, but not as you know them

I was surprised by how much I liked the Power Core Combiners line. I love it. I like the uniform size class. I like the affordable nature of the two packs. I like the mix and match potential of the five packs. Steamhammer with Constructicons is the latest of the decepticon five packs, and it is incredible the progress that the line has made since it's humble beginnings. Steamhammer himself is of the same nice quality of the other commander figures in the line, mixing the small size of the scout class with the robustness of the larger size classes. He comes in traditional constructicon green and turns from a chunky bulldozer into a squat, mean looking robot. Articulation is hindered somewhat by the backpack unfortunately, but the shoulder pylons are a nice detail and there is enough movement in the arms to make use of the wrist mounted claws.

This set also includes four constructicon drones: a white and green snowplough, a yellow steamroller, an orange tracked conveyor and a pale blue drilling rig. All are nicely detailed, with the drilling rig and conveyor both featuring moving parts. The paint effect on the steamroller drum is one that I haven't seen before, a very glossy black base with what look like drybrushed silver streaks; its a lot of detail for Hasbro and at this scale is quite convincing.

Transform Steamhammer into torso mode and clip on the drones to convert them to limb configurations and you are left with this set's combined mode. The conversion from robot to torso has always impressed me on these figures and Steamhammer continues the trend of innovative ways to do so, in this case the bulldozer bucket flips on top of the robot mode torso to create a whole new chestpiece and reveal the combined mode head. The limbs are among the best in the line, with the legs being solid and stable, and the arms looking good and both featuring moving thumbs.

Overall this is a fantastic look at the potential this line always had, and it is a pity it is also among the last of the announced ones. Power Core hasn't been much of a fan favorite, but this set is certainly worth a look.

A New Hole to Pour Money into!

One of my colleagues was kind enough to buy me this wonderful Warhammer 40000 Starter set as a belated birthday present. And suddenly I have a new hobby.

It certainly is a nice set, and from what I hear it is very good value, with over a thousand points worth of figures included. The majority of the figures are the brutal Orks, with 26 minitures of various sizes and three "deffcoptas". Despite their numbers, points wise the Orks are outmatched by the questionably heroic Space Marines, 16 minitures and one "dreadnought". The set also includes a general rulebook, a information booklet for the set, templates for various weapons, and two measuring sticks with rather oddly sized inches marked on them.

The minitures themselves are highly detailed and fit together without the need of glue, although you probably will need some to get them to stay on their bases. The bases are one of my biggest concerns with this set, few of the minitures fit tightly and the large base for the dreadnought hadn't had the necessary holes drilled into it, with the translucent "flying" bases for the deffcoptas being the only ones I had no problems with. I do look forward to painting and "improving" the figures (I'm going be playing orks), and if it goes well I'll be posting pictures here.

Army Building

Although I had owned a few figures earlier than it, I began "seriously" collecting Transformers with the first movie line. Transformers wasn't my first collecting hobby, that distinction goes to Lego. To this day it shocks people that with all the lego I own, I have never put it all in one pile and built at random. Most sets have never been mixed with another. This attitude perhaps should have been a sign that Lego collecting wasn't totally ideal for me, but even with Transformers taking it's place, I still keep tabs on what the Lego group is doing and buying that which catches my eye. Indeed, many of my most extravagant purchases or gifts are Lego related rather than Transformer related.

This small set is from the initial wave of Toy Story sets, and represents a roughly life-size look at the green army men seen in all three films, most prominantly in the first. Since sets just containing minifigs have tended to sell badly (due to the low price to size ratio in turn due to the cost of printing the minifig parts), a small green 4x4 vehicle is also included. This set marks the closest to a true military theme that Lego is willing to do, and as such was popular for containing army uniforms and helmets for minifigs. Each figure comes with a base resembling those in the film. Three are in standard uniform, one has a backpack and a medic's helmet.

As well as the 4x4, there are also two rifles, two walky-talky's, two sets of binoculars, a metal detector, a suitcase and a stretcher, all in green of course. Even holding an item in each hand it isn't possible for the minifigs to hold everything, so Lego have been generous here.

Whilst some of the larger sets with moulded heads were initially met with mixed reactions, this set was generally well received; with the line proving poular this set has always sold fast. I was lucky enough to find it less that half price, an absolute steal, but even at full price, if you're interested, it's worth taking the shot.

Cover Your Receptors

Hasbro seems to have a bit of an '86 vibe going on right now with it's classics releases. We've had Rodimus and Cyclonus, Blurr, Wreck-gar, Scourge, Kup and of course Perceptor. This is starting to create a problem for my classics shelf; do I keep them all together or separate them? Having Rodimus next to prime isn't so bad, but having Galvatron next to Megatron is likley to start making my head hurt (I'm having a similar issue with my Robot Heroes).

Perceptor fits somewhere in between the two groups, being one of the lucky few to make the transition from season two to three. This new figure is very successful in capturing the cartoon appearance, especially considering the vastly different alt-modes. The body shape is largely right and the details are spot-on, with lovely chrome parts. I'm glad Hasbro went the extra mile here, I don't like too much chrome (looking at you Henkei line) but it finishes the G1 look nicely. Like Bumblebee, there is no hand weapon, but he does have an impressive shoulder mounted one. Whilst there is no official microscope mode, that hasn't stopped enterprising fans from coming up with their own.

Not that there's anything wrong with the official vehicle mode. Perceptor turns into a half-track exploration vehicle with a bulky roof light array which can be unfolded into his weapon. The treads are seemingly a reference the the G1 toy's third mode, a tank. The only real issue with the vehicle mode is the mismatching windows, they are not even close to being the same colour. Despite this, it is a cute but rugged looking vehicle, with a scientific look about it, which is apropriate. Much of the vehicle mode is hidden in robot mode, so the designer had plenty of scope (pun not intended) to make this vehicle mode shine. Hasbro have said they plan to make Reflector out of this mould, and if they do, I'll be tempted to army build, this is a good enough figure that I wouldn't feel like too much of a mug doing so.

To Bee or not to Bee

I wasn't initially sure if I was going to get RTS Bumblebee. As someone who joined the Transformers fandom with the first movie, I missed the much praised Classics line. Thanks to the 2008 Universe line, I have plugged the Starscream shaped hole on the "classics style" shelf, and I've managed to pick up Mirage and the two pack Optimus and Megatron figures. It seemed like good news that Bumblebee was getting another release, but after the disappointment that was RTS Rodimus, I was a little wary.

I'm happy to say that I needn't have worried, Bumblebee looks and feels fine, the plastic is of the normal standard and everything is tight. The vehicle mode paintjob evokes the movie bumblebee, which may not bee to everyone's taste, but thankfully there is far less black than on the "Legacy of Bumblebee" version. As a bit of a bonus for this figure, the rear spoiler is removable, I am told this was not the case on the original. Bumblebee certainly looks better without it as far as I'm concerned. He also comes with the "wave rider" accessory, although this will be staying in the box with the spoiler for the time being.

Robot mode is small and chunky, meaning that he stands a head shorter than most of his linemates, which makes sense. What doesn't make sense is that this figure has no weapons, there are holes in his fists to accomodate them but none are included. And whilst his small size is nice, the large sections of car hanging off him make him stick out against the other Classics and Universe Autobots. None of this should stop you if you don't have a version of this mould though, Bumblebee is becoming a key character again and this is a nice figure to remind you where the killer camaro started life.

Worthless wreck? Perhaps not.

Transformers Animated was one of the biggest shocks to me as a fan. When the first images started appearing shortly after I started collecting, I imagined that I'd be taking a hiatus until the second movie line. And now I find myself among the many who, against their initial feelings, count Animated as one of their favorite lines.

I bring up animated due to the fact I have not yet watched season three of G1 and as a result, have limited exposure to the character of G1 Wreck-gar. I can only assume that my buying of this figure was infuenced by my love for the Animated version of the character, both on screen and in toy form.

That's not to say that this isn't a good figure, it just doesn't really excite me. I do look forward the the potential release of a second Junkion from the mould to recreate the chase scene from the movie, but I'm not rushing to get another Wreck-gar for that purpose.

Seeing as I haven't said an awful lot, here's some pictures of RTS Wreck-gar with Animated Wreck-gar.