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.

A Mega Experience

Transformers and video games rarely get along. The first movie game had great visuals for the characters, but that was all it had going for it. The ROTF game I always felt was underrated, but it certainly wasn't groundbreaking. War for Cybertron was the first transformers line built from the ground up to be a video game line, which is always a greater recipe than an adaptation. Supposedly part of the Prime continuity (despite having far more in common with G1), the plot, character designs and aesthetics were all chosen with playability in mind.

Cybertron Megatron is the third War for Cybertron design featured in the Generations toyline, and looking at his "tank" mode, it'd be hard to see why he is my favorite. Essentially a block with a gun sticking out, it isn't going to win any awards for beauty, but it is accurate to the game in that respect and it is stable and solid. The treads can hide underneath for accuracy of fold out to the sides for functionality; though this greatly detracts from his looks. The large cannon can fire a purple missile.

The transformation is far simpler than that of his linemates, and whilst I like complex conversions, I can appreciate efficiency too, especially when the results are this good. Robot mode is imposing and bulky, the tank cannon having formed Megatron's signature fusion cannon and the simple transformation giving him solid limbs. There are no parts hanging off him, no folded vehicle sections, no unsightly backpack; the backplate is actally a detailed piece that folds into place and accurately conveys the video game design, very important given the third person perspective of the game. This is an all round great figure if you like the look, though I can see people being put off by it. When I first saw pictures of the figure I thought it looked rubbish, but after seeing the design in motion in the game and the clever transformation in videos, I was converted, and I'm glad I managed to track this figure down.

A wheely good update.

I like Truck Transformers. Always have, probably always will. My first transformers series was Armada, and my favorite toy from that line was Optimus. To me, Optimus as a longnose truck cab is almost as iconic as the famous G1 look. RTS Optimus is a tribute to the first such Prime.

Vehicle mode is a refreshing change from the super modified movie truck and instead is a more average american rig, lacking the sleeper cab and full wheel arches of the former. It has a full set of ten tyres and a detailed trailer hitch, this mode isn't just designed to look good from the front.

The transformation is rather novel, with the blocks of rear tyres swivelling and compressing into the robot's legs, whilst the cab rotates and slides down to form the iconic window chest. Posablity is good, with special attention paid to the wrists to allow for holding the sword in both hands. The sword itself is a nice update to the simple transparent block of the original, with the blade clearly inspired by those of the movieverse character.

Overall, this is a very nice figure for Truck or Prime fans; being a fan of both, I was always going to get this figure. I am among the many who hope to see this figure redecoed into RID Scourge, but even if it isn't, this is still a great looking and fun figure, if a bit of an oddity.