Tag Archives: siege

Aug 5 2020

Transformers Siege: Mirage by Hasbro

As you may be aware, I’ve been bouncing my Transformers reviews between the new Earthrise releases and my backlog of Siege figures. Up until now, I’ve felt hopelessly dated going back to the previous line, but seeing as how the new Netflix series premiered, it now seems a lot more topical to be checking these out. I’ve only seen a few episodes of the series so far, but I like it well enough. I’m pretty impressed at how close the animation models stick to the toy designs. I think it tries a little too hard to be edgy and gritty, but overall it’s pretty good stuff. So, let’s check out my favorite Autobot Infiltrator, Mirage! I’m delighted to see Hasbro taking another crack at Mirage. The Classics one was a cool figure, but it was pretty different than the G1 robot design. Combiner Wars gave us another, but that one was just a repaint of the Stunticon, Dragstrip.

And this one looks like it’s going to be a pretty sweet update! The box contains the usual kick-ass character art and showcases the figure in his robot mode. I should note that this Mirage has been re-released in a Decepticon deco, as part of the Netflix sub-line of Siege repaints. That didn’t make any sense to me until seeing the series. It’s a cool way to introduce and justify a repaint, but I’ve opted to skip the Netflix repaints. Let’s start with his race car mode!

It’s a reach, but to appreciate Siege, you have to accept that there are a lot of native Autobot alt-modes that look conveniently similar to Earth cars. And yeah, I’m OK with that. This Cybertron racer reminds me a bit of Prowl’s alt-mode from the Energon series, and that toy hasn’t aged too well. Mirage has a distinctive Formula-1 configuration, but the canopy and surrounding area are cast in translucent blue to give it the feel of a futuristic alien machine. The front is fairly faithful to its Earth cousin, but the back looks all sorts of stubby and weird, especially since the back of the vehicle is the faked out chest for the robot mode, which is supposed to be the front of the car. The end result is something that has a bit of a super-deformed Tonka-toy feel about it.

The color palate consists of white, gray, and blue, in other words, G1 Mirage colors. You also get some silver paint on the top of the wheels and the top of the spoiler. There’s some Cybertonian script printed on the sides of the car and a bold Autobot emblem printed on the front. All in all, I’m not really digging this alt mode very much. The best thing I can say about it is the translucent plastic looks really cool.

Mirage comes with two weapons and they can both plug into the holes in his spoiler. Yeah, it doesn’t do a whole lot to add to the vehicles aesthetic. Let’s move on to the robot mode.

Now we’re talking! Clearly, Hasbro made all the sacrifices in the alt mode to give us a great looking Mirage in robot mode, and given how good it looks, I’m fine with that! The transformation is totally different, and yet everything falls into place more or less. The armor panels on his arms are now made up from the spoiler, rather than the sides of the car. Those wind up down in his lower legs. And I already mentioned that the chest is faked out to look like the front of the car, when it’s actually the back. The clear plastic looks cool down in his legs, and I like how the Cybertron script winds up down their too.

From the back, he isn’t exactly pretty, but there’s still some neat stuff going on here. I dig how the back wheels fold into his back and are totally obscured from view in the front. The front wheels and stabilizers fold behind his lower legs at an angle, which also puts them out of view from the front. I do wish these locked into place better, but it’s a creative way to stow them.

The head sculpt is comprised of pure G1 goodness. He features the familiar rounded “helmet” with the vents on each side of his face. The face itself is painted in a flashy silver and his eyes are neatly painted blue. I also like that they gave him a kind of good natured smile. That’s the old Mirage that I know and love. The cut-out on his chest, a vestige of where his face was hidden in the original toy, has some great texturing and the blue and red paint really pop. I also dig that huge Autobot insignia on his chest. It matches the one on the real front of the car pretty closely.

One of Mirage’s weapons can work as a shoulder-mounted missile launcher, similar to what the original toy had. It looks OK, but I think it projects out a little too much, and that extra peg on the missile is distracting. The launcher can also double as a hand-held weapon too.

And Mirage also comes with a more conventional rifle, which is not only a very cool design, but clearly based on the rifle that came with the original figure. Before wrapping up, since this guy is replacing the Combiner Wars Mirage in my collection, let’s take a quick look at how they stack up.

Some may say it’s unfair to compare their vehicle modes, since this new Mirage is supposed to be a Cybertron racer and the other is an Earth racer, but still.. Combiner Wars Mirage wins by a mile. It’s sleek and sexy, has some nice curves, and the simpler deco is beautiful.

Of course, going to robot mode is a whole different story. Combiner Wars Mirage never really came close to looking like the real deal, and that’s understandable since he’s a repaint of a Stunticon with a Mirage head on it. And with a robot mode this good, I’ll take the Siege Mirage with his boxy alt mode any day.

Unless you’re totally dead set on getting an Earth Formula-1 Racer, I can’t recommend this figure enough. I’ve taken a lot of jabs at the alt mode, but in all fairness it isn’t that bad. And it’s even easier to swallow it when it delivers such a great looking figure. Surprisingly, I wasn’t all that excited about getting this guy in hand, but now that I have him, I find that he’s really scratching an itch that’s been bothering me for a long time. That old Classics Mirage was a cool figure, but it was more of a re-imagining of the character, where is this is exactly what I was looking for!

Jul 24 2020

Transformers Siege: Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker by Hasbro

It’s a fine testament to how far behind I am in my reviews that I just managed to assemble my trio of Decepticon Seekers from Transformers: Earthrise and I still haven’t reviewed the ones from Siege yet. This was a fact that came to light as I sat down to start writing the review of the newer figures. So, fair is fair. Today I’ll finally get around to taking a look at the three Decepticon Seekers from Siege! Of course, Siege features the Transformers in their original Cybertronian modes, and in this case the Seekers are based off of the Tetra Jet design that was introduced in the Sunbow cartoon and has since been more or less accepted as the official original alt forms of the Seekers. It’s a cool design, but since it was designed for a cartoon and without the restraints of practical toy design, these have been rather difficult to reproduce in action figure form. Hasbro approached something like it (but not really) with their figures based off the Fall of Cybertron figures. Third party designer Impossible Toys had a crack at it and managed to produce some really nice jet modes, but with some pretty janky robot modes. And here we are now back to Hasbro with something of a compromise.

And just to complicate things, the packaging and distribution of these figures varied. Starscream and Thundercracker were regular Voyager Class releases and as such they come in typical Siege style packaging. As always, these boxes look great, feature some amazing artwork and allow you to get a good look at the figure in robot mode before opening. Much to the chagrin of some collectors, Skywarp was offered later as an exclusive and has since been a bit tough to get a hold of at a reasonable price. He was also packaged differently, this time in boxed set called The Phantomstrike Squadron, and came with three little Weapon Masters figures. All three of the Seekers feature the exact same mold, except for some variations in the head, so let’s just take a look at Starscream’s alt mode first and then check out the different decos found on his comrades.

This is not a dead ringer for the Sunbow Tetrajet design and I’m not faulting Hasbro for that, because of the clear challenge that stems from working with the design. As we will soon see Hasbro clearly made some sacrifices to the jet mode to preserve the robot mode. Still, I’d say that this captures the spirit of that original Tetra Jet , and it’s likely as close as we’re going to get without interjecting insane Masterpiece levels of panel-shifting transformations. This design de-emphasizes equality of the jet’s four points by diminishing the wings and extending the snout, for lack of a better term. The result is something that evokes the basic design of the Colonial Viper from Battlestar Galactica more than the original Tetra Jet, especially with the three thrusters in the back, but I still dig it. It totally works for me as a Cybertron design in that it’s different enough to look like an alien vehicle, and yet it’s still similar to the Earth design that the Seekers later adopted.

On the downside, this alt mode is almost as much kibble as it is jet, with the bulk of the robot body hanging out in the undercarriage and the chest piece rather awkwardly on display from the back. The undercarriage junk doesn’t bother me so much. To be fair, the down-swept wings do conceal some of it and it does provide a nice platform for the jet to rest on. And because this is an alien design, who’s to say that’s not what it’s supposed to look like. Besides, Primus knows we’ve had plenty of regular jet modes over the years with as much robot undercarriage as these toys. But as much as I’ll defend that stuff, the chest piece on the back bugs me a lot, just because it’s so painfully obvious what it is, I’ve tried to tell myself that the two intake fans don’t look out of place there, and that the faked out cockpit could be some kind of generator, but it’s just impossible for me not see it for what it really is. Starscream also has a pair of guns that peg in under his wings.

Starscream’s coloring is similar to what we’re used to seeing on him in his Earth mode. The jet is mostly bare gray plastic with some red and blue painted trim. There’s also some darker gray around the cockpit and vents and the yellow cockpit looks great. He also has Decepticon emblems on each side near the back. The jet also includes Siege’s signature weathered look with some dirty markings scattered around the hull. It’s used sparingly here and I think it’s pretty effective. Finally, I have to compliment Hasbro on the detail in the panel lines on this toy. Siege has been all about they hyper-detail and that’s definitely still the case here. I just love how busy the sculpt is, especially on a design that’s relatively simple like this one. Let’s take a quick look at the decos for the other two Seekers!

No surprises here! Thundercracker remains true to form with his mostly blue colored plastic, and he shares the same red paint accents as Starscream has along the edges of his wings and near the sides of his cockpit. The cockpit frame itself is black, as is the blunt nose of the craft. He has the same yellow cockpit and Decepticon insignia, although his are a little muted against his the blue hull. Finally, Thundercrackers weathering is achieved through silver paint, which I think looks more like chipping and abrasions in his finish than Starscream’s dirt. It’s a bit over the top, but I don’t hate it. Like Starscream, I think the deco looks fantastic. Onward to Skywarp!

Skywarp adds the most color to the mix, making his deco a little atypical. His wing. Rather than being mostly black, it’s reserved for his wing area, with the snout of the jet being painted silver and the tip purple. You get more purple trim on the wings and around the sides near the yellow canopy, and more silver in the grills. It’s a striking deco that looks amazing, even if I’m used to seeing more black in my Skywarps. Like Thundercracker, SKywarp has a bunch of silver painted abrasions and wear, showing that he’s seen some action in his day.

OK, so now that we’ve checked out the alt modes, let’s turn back to Starscream and have a look at his robot mode!

Transforming these guys isn’t too bad, and there’s actually some pretty clever stuff going on, like the way the nose of the jet splits to become the familiar shoulder intakes. Indeed, the only gripe I have about the transformation is that the friction hinges that hold the chest piece on isn’t up to the task and I’ve yet to be able to transform Starscream without it falling off. The others are a little better, but it still probably pops off at least half of the time. Once transformed we get a very familiar G1 Seeker robot mode, which makes me appreciate the alt mode a lot more. I’m just all kinds of impressed they were able to get this robot mode out of that Tetra Jet. The proportions are great and even the articulation is solid and fun. Sure, we already know the cockpit chest is a feake-out, but I don’t have a problem with that. Indeed, my only real complaint here is that the unfinished side of the wings face forward, but Hasbro even tried to pretty them up by stamping Decepticon insignia on them and giving them a little painted trim. From behind he’s mostly a wall of wings, but a nicely finished one. Even his lower legs fill in!

The portrait is superb. I love the detail work that went into the “helmet,” the flashy silver paint used for the face, and the glaring red light-piping in the eyes. And once again, I have to call out how amazing all the panel lines are in the mold itself. Even the transparent cockpit in the chest features etched circuit-like patterns, and is flanked by those awesome looking fans. I also really dig how he’s got thrusters emerging from the middle of his feet, even though these aren’t really part of his Tetra Jet mode.

The deco continues to carry Starscream’s iconic colors, with more red and blue showing up in the robot mode. Some might argue that the weathering looks a little overdone here, and I’d be inclined to agree. It doesn’t ruin the figure for me at all, but I would have liked if they had toned it back on the legs a bit. I actually don’t mind the silver wear on his torso at all.

Starscream’s wing guns can be attached to the pegs in his shoulders or forearms. He can even hold them like regular guns if you want. There should be a configuration that pleases everyone, but I prefer them on the shoulders so he can aim them straight down his arm like he did in the Sunbow cartoon. In short, this is a great looking figure with some cool engineering and he’s loads of fun to play with. Let’s take a quick look at the other decos…

In robot mode, Thundercracker’s color scheme holds no surprises. He’s still mostly blue with some black trim and bare gray plastic making up the frame of his torso. The weathering here is all silver and he’s got a lot of it on his lower legs. I like to think that’s just Autobot blood that’s splashed all over him while he was kicking the shit out of one of them. Yeah, that got dark! G1 Thundercracker was the first Decepticon jet I owned as a kid, and the only one I had for a long while, so while his deco is probably the more boring of the three, he’ll always have a special place in my heart. So, other than the fact that this figure looks great, is there anything else to say?

Well, yeah. Thundercracker actually got his own unique portrait! The “helmet” is the same as on the other two figures, but Hasbro gave Thundercracker a big energon-eating grin. Or maybe it’s more of a smirk. Either way, I think it would have better suited Starscream, as he tended to have the most personality of the three. Curious that Hasbro decided to give it to Thundercracker.

And that brings us to Skywarp! While his deco stood out a bit in his Tetra Jet mode, as a robot everything falls more or less into place where I expected it. You basically take Thundercracker’s color palate and swap blue for black and black for purple. The only other real difference is that the fans in his chest are black as well. I’ve always been partial to Skywarp’s coloring, there’s nothing quite so striking as that sinister Decepticon blend of black and purple and it looks as great as ever here. Once again, there’s plenty of silver paint splattered around his lower legs, and I wouldn’t have minded if Hasbro held back on that a bit. And before we wrap things up, let’s take a look at Skywarp’s Weapon Masters!

Because why should Soundwave and Blaster be the only ones to have little robot pets? I’m not sure why Hasbro decided to give Skywarp these guys, but maybe it was just so they could get it to fit into a certain price point assortment. Either way these little guys from right to left are Fracas, Terror-Daxtyl, and Shrute. Each of these transform into a different weapon and each comes with some effect parts. And yes, I just realized that I didn’t take enough time to contemplate what a f’cking metal name Terror-Daxtyl really is. Sorry. I’ve been a little mixed on the Weapon Master figures. I like the idea of having little robots to interact with the bigger ones, but the weapons they turn into are often mixed bags. Let’s take a look…

Terror-Daxtyl transforms into an axe, which always brings me back to the eternal question: How much must it suck to be a robot that transforms into something you hit things with!?! It’s kind of a crazy idea, but he does make for a decent looking axe and the effect part is pretty impressive.

Both Fracas and Shrute transform into double-barrel blasters and while the molds are each different the engineering here is exactly the same. They’re a bit chunky but they work just fine. Shrute has a pair of bulbous yellow blast effects and Fracas has thinner blue electricity effect pieces.

Oh boy, I really dig these guys! I was perfectly content to keep the Fall of Cybertron versions as my Cybertronian Seekers, and while I still like those figures quite a bit, the Siege Seekers have quickly supplanted them and become my new favorites. Oh, there’s more than a few points worth picking at with these figures, particularly when it comes to the alt modes, but overall I think Hasbro made the necessary compromises in all the right places. We get some solid re-imaginings of the Tetra Jet designs while producing three superb robot modes, all of which manage to capture everything I love about the iconic G1 Seekers that I loved as a kid. It’ll be fun to do some side by side comparisons when I get around to looking at the Earthrise Seekers, and hopefully that won’t be too far off!

May 20 2020

Transformers Siege: Smokescreen and Bluestreak by Hasbro

While I’ve already started dipping into the Earthrise reviews, I’ve still got unfinished business with Siege. As a result, I’ll continue to pepper some of those older releases in with the Earthrise figures now and again until I get fully caught up. Last week I did this with a look at Siege Ratchet and today I’m finishing off the Siege Datsuns (Well, Cybertronian Datsuns) with Smokescreen and Bluestreak.

Unlike Prowl, who was a regular release in Siege, these guys are a bit more confusing. Smokescreen was one of the Selects figures, which meant he came in an plain ugly box and I think he was exclusive to the Hasbro Pulse Shop. Bluestreak was released as part of the 35th Anniversary Collection, which seemed to be mostly repaints. but in only slightly altered packaging. This would piss me off to no end if I kept these in their boxes, but I don’t so I care not! Let’s start out with Bluestreak!

I already did a review on this mold when it was first released as Prowl and later Barricade, so I’ll stick to pointing out the differences, and in auto mode we’re just talking about the new paint jobs. I’m a little mixed on how Bluestreak came out. His deco consists primarily of bare gray plastic with some glossy black. It’s an interesting combination, but I’m just not all that crazy about how the finish on the gray looks so much more dull. Maybe Hasbro realized that, because they did give him some spiffy silver painted wheels. The red Autobot emblem on the hood toss in a splash of color, as does the red trim that can be seen through the transparent canopy. I don’t dislike the coloring here, I just feel like it could have been better with an all around glossy finish.

Smokescreen, on the other hand, well this is what I’m talking about. Sure, he has the advantage of a snappy red, white, and blue deco, but the finish looks great. In addition to the coloring, he also has some panels with Cybertronian writing, where the 38 appears on his traditional auto mode. I also really dig the black skeletal frame on the canopy and the way it emphasizes the sculpted detail inside. There’s no doubt about it, Smokescreen is the more attractive of the two, at least as far as I’m concerned.

Where Prowl just came with a gun to mount on the hood, these guys come with that gun plus two others, which can mount where the side mirrors would go. This combo makes for a particularly dangerous looking attack mode. Moving on to the robot modes!

I liked this mode well enough when it was Prowl and I like it just as much with these guys. With the bumper chest and the door wings, this is Autobot design at in its purist form. And I dig the deco here a lot more in robot mode. The duller gray plastic looks better on a robot than it does a car and the black with the addition of the red in the upper arms, upper legs, and abs makes for a quite striking combination. Yeah, this mold still looks a bit unfinished from the back, but all in all, I think the mold looks great in these colors.

The portrait looks to me to be the same as Prowl’s and that includes the “helmet” and those pronounced wings or horns or whatever you want to call them protruding from the central ridge. The silver paint looks great and the blue eyes are sharp and prominent despite the lack of light-piping. And unlike Prowl, Bluestreak has his twin shoulder guns, which we saw mounted on his auto mode. I think these look great and it bothered me a bit that they omitted them from Prowl. I guess in the end it serves to make the figures a little more distinctive from each other.

Smokescreen gets to keep all that beautiful blue and red paint from his auto mode, but the robot mode also adds a lot of black, which presents a pretty significant break from the colorful alt mode. I’m not saying I don’t like it, only that I find it interesting that Bluestreak got a bolder color statement going to robot and Smokescreen got muted. It still makes for a fantastic deco for the mold. Naturally, I would have liked it if Hasbro could have re-sculpted the hood and gave it that squared off apron, but this will still do just fine.

Smokescreen also gets an all new head sculpt, which suits him beautifully. The blue “helmet” is more rounded out and feels more integrated with his face. His brow wings are yellow and have an interesting cracked pattern sculpted into them. The silver used for his face is bright and lovely and he’s got some additional detail sculpted into the edges where his face meets the “helmet.” And as with Bluestreak, the twin guns we saw in his auto mode form his shoulder cannons.

When I reviewed Ratchet I’m pretty sure I commented about how I’m trying to get away from buying a lot of repaints with my Transformers. I easily passed on Soundblaster and I’ve yet to pick up the cell-shaded Optimus and Megatron (although those are still tempting), and I’m going to sit out all of the Netflix repaints that have popped up at Walmart. But when we’re talking about repaints that made up original characters? Well, those are always going to be fair game. The Datsuns were a cornerstone of my Transformers memories and Prowl was among my first Autobot figures when I was a kid. So yeah, I’m pretty much going to pick these guys up whenever Hasbro does them justice like this.

May 15 2020

Transformers Siege: Ratchet by Hasbro

With lots of Siege figures left for me to open, I’m trying to juggle these older reviews alongside the new Earthrise figures. Today I’m going back to one of my favorite characters from the G1 cartoon, Ratchet. It’s always a treat to get updates to Ratchet and Ironhide, because as a kid I was robbed of proper figures because their G1 toys were so damned weird. I was actually pleased with the CHUG versions when they came out, which just goes to show you how thirsty I was. I mean, Woof! Those haven’t aged well. Obviously Ratchet here is just a repaint/slight remold of Ironhide, which I reviewed a little while back, so some of this may feel like I’m covering old ground, but let’s take a look!

In kind of a dick move, Hasbro decided to make Ratchet a Walgreen’s Exclusive. Now, in fairness, he was pretty easy for me to find, so I probably shouldn’t complain, but I’m sure there are people out there who had problems because of the exclusivity. Bottom line, Hasbro… don’t be making important characters like my boy Ratchet an exclusive. Save that shit for Barricade. He was a cool figure, but not essential, IMHO. Anyway, despite being an exclusive, there’s no sticker or other indicator of that fact on the box. Naturally he comes packaged in robot mode, but let’s start out with his alt mode.

In vehicle mode, I expected Ratchet to be a straight-up repaint, but Hasbro actually did some reworking on his front bumper, as well as the area above and behind the tinted blue windshield, which is a welcome surprise. It’s not quite an ambulance light-bar, but it’s painted to resemble one. Maybe the Cybertronian equivalent, eh? The back panels are still kind of ugly and hollow, because they’re the bottoms of Ratchet’s feet, although if I try hard enough I can imagine that they’re supposed to be exhaust vents. Still, I’d rather it looked like he could open up to carry wounded Autobots. As for the rest of the vehicle, the white plastic looks good with the painted red panels, and the wheels are slightly more gray than white, which mixes things up a bit. The silver paint on the bumper head headlights looks good, as does the crisp Autobot insignia just under the windshield. You also get some brushed weathering near the back. It’s not an entirely different vehicle than Ironhide, but the subtle changes and the new paint job certainly sets it apart.

Hasbro also set Ratchet up with some new accessories, which can be used on Ratchet’s auto mode. He’s got a wrench-claw on an articulated arm, and a smaller gun, which can be part of the claw or mounted separately as a weapon. I dig both of these a lot, as it allows Ratchet to effect repairs while in his alt mode and laying down covering fire at the same time. I suppose the claw could also be used to grab hold of Autobots and drag them off the battlefield to safety.

As mostly a repaint, Ratchet transforms exactly the same as Ironhide. There is one nice surprise, however! The side panels don’t fall off like they do with my Ironhide EVERY SINGLE TIME I TRANSFORM HIM!!! Either way, Ratchet has a fantastic looking robot mode that’s well proportioned and just chunky enough to scratch my G1 itch. It’s not a dead-ringer for the original Sunbow character design, but it hits just enough points to make it work for me. Structurally, the only differences between him and his Autobot brother is the slight reconfiguration in the shoulders and the front bumper that rests behind his head. From behind he’s got a lot of hollow compartments, but he still manages to look rugged and sturdy. The deco doesn’t change much from his vehicle mode. It’s still mostly white with some red here and there.

The new head sculpt looks great, particularly with his rounded “helmet” and those big wings over his eyes. I like the features in his face, but I wish the face was painted silver to make it stand out a little more. There’s no light-piping in the blue eyes, but they still stand out remarkably well.

Ratchet’s weapon can be split up to give him a pistol, and you have some options if you want to attach the claw arm to him. I like pegging it into his back. It fills up that empty space a bit and it can be swiveled around to project up over his head or shoulder. What practical purpose it could serve? I have no idea. Maybe as an extra hand when he’s doing his repair work? Of course, you also have the option of just setting it aside when he’s in robot mode.

Ironhide was a great figure, so it should come as no surprise that Ratchet toes the line and also turned out fantastic. With display and storage space being what it is these days, I’m not that keen on buying a lot of repaints anymore, but with some of these old G1 guys, I have to make an exception. And with that having been said, we’re not done with this mold yet. It also got repainted into Crosshairs, and I wound up buying him too, so we will revisit the Ironhide/Ratchet mold again in the not too distant future.

Feb 28 2020

Transformers Siege: Shockwave by Hasbro

One of the many lessons I took away from Toy Fair is, OMG there are so many cool new Transformers coming and I’m woefully behind in reviewing the ones that I have. So, with Earthrise figures already hitting the shelves, and some sitting in my online Pile of Loot, I thought I’d dig in and open some of the Siege figures I’m sitting on. And it’s not like I haven’t given up on trying to be current with my content years ago, riiiiight? Oh, look… it’s Shockwave. Let’s check him out.

After what seemed like an eternity of boring packages inspired by the Bay movies, Siege upped the ante with some amazing artwork. I love the gritty and realistic renderings of these bots, and the art design matches the look they were going for with the figures. I’m crowing a lot about the artwork because, to be honest, this package isn’t showing Shockwave at his best, and I was almost tempted to leave him on the shelf when I first found him. Anyway, he’s a Leader Class, but that can be a little deceptive since a lot of his parts are optional for his robot mode, and in my case, I prefer to leave them out. But I guess I’m getting ahead of myself… let’s start with his alt mode.

I don’t really understand Hasbro’s unwillingness to do a proper alien laser gun alt mode for Shockwave. I mean, they sell Nerf guns and some of those resemble real guns a lot more than Shockwave ever did. And yes, there’s a workaround to reach a fan-mode that resembles a gun, but it’s not something I’m going to touch on here. In any case, what do you do with a Transformer who’s alt mode used to be a camera, or a tape deck, or a laser gun? You turn them into a spaceship. And so, Siege presents Shockwave as Decepticon Space Cruiser, and as sarcastic as I’ve just been on the subject, I’m actually pretty keen on this design. I’d like to imagine that there’s a lot of mass shifting involved here, because the design looks like it should be massive. Hell, this would be a great stand in for the Decepticon Flagship, Nemesis as far as I’m concerned. Although that would have to be a hell of a lot of mass shifting!

As with many of Siege’s figures, the sculpting is complex and very busy. The hull surface is littered with panel lines and there is hardly a millimeter of this craft that isn’t packed with some kind of detail. It’s also blistering with guns. There are two small turrets on top and three banks of cannons slung below each of the engine pylons near the back. I dig how powerful the engines look, again suggesting that this thing is supposed to be BIG and all the wings and fins coming off the back adds to its stylish complexity. And then there’s the giant emitter on the front, which I suppose could be some kind of Deflector Dish, like on the ships in Star Trek, or it could just be a super weapon. In the end, I guess it’s whatever I want it to be.

There are a lot of clever fake-outs on the ship design as well, making it seem like certain parts are components of Shockwave’s robot mode, when in fact these parts are removed for transformation. The engine pylons, for example, look a lot like Shockwave’s lower legs and the conning tower looks like it’s meant to be Shockwave’s head. Meanwhile, both of the side cannons resemble Shockwave’s gun arm. As I mentioned above, there’s a fair amount of parts-forming here and I realize a lot of fans don’t dig that, but when considering the toy as a whole, I’m OK with it. So let’s transform Shockwave and start with his most basic robot mode.

Stripped of his bulk, Shockwave transforms into a roughly Voyager Class figure, which happily puts him in perfect scale with Siege Soundwave and Megatron. Oh, and he also happens to be absolutely spectacular! The character has had a select number of figures in recent years from the forgettable Combiner Wars release to the weird Walgreens Exclusive that I still have to review one of these days, but this one scratches all of my itches. And yet all it does is take the original character design and do it right. The familiar translucent plastic bar is present on his chest, he still has the backpack where the electronics were stored in the original figure, and you get the necessary cable running from his right gun arm to the backpack. And all of that wonderful panel lining from the Space Cruiser mode carries over to make for a hyper-detailed robot. The deep purple deco from the alt mode also dominates the robot mode with some additional gray and silver. I just love this bot in every way imaginable. Except maybe in the literal sense of having intercourse with it.

And let’s just take a moment to appreciate the head sculpt with that single piercing yellow eye that sports some outrageously fine light piping. Seriously, just about anywhere I rest this figure, that light seems to be illuminated  They packed some amazing sculpting into the area surrounding that eye, and he has his traditional flat ear-antenna. Simply wonderful! Now… about all those extra parts…

Throwing back on all of those parts, we get Shockwave in his powered up mode and for me this is a big fat NOPE. The bulk of the parts go onto his upper body with a bigger backpack, bigger shoulders and a really weird extra set of arms that end in guns. It looks like some kind of Transformers body horror to me, like he went through the Space Bridge with another Transformer and this is what got merged together and came out the other end. Also, he acquires a pair of gun shoes. GUN SHOES!!! No sir, Hasbro. Only Predaking can pull off gun shoes. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll bet this mode is all kinds of fun for the kids and that’s great, but I won’t be displaying him like this. What else ya got, Hasbro?

Well, how about this jet sled kind of thing? This is also not really doing much for me. He looks silly on it and it doesn’t hold together well at all. I guess as a separate attack drone, maybe? But all in all, I’m happy just putting these parts aside when I display Shockwave in robot mode.

I’m glad to be going back and hitting some reviews of the older Transformers from Siege before getting into Earthrise, because clearly there are some great figures here and I don’t want to miss out on gushing about them. Shockwave here will likely raise issues with some. He’s undoubtedly got elements of being a parts-former, but with both an alt-mode and robot mode that are as great as these, I’m perfectly OK with it. And to their credit, Hasbro tried to use those extra bits to good effect, but I’m still happy to put them in a pile behind him on the shelf so they’re on hand when I want to transform him, but otherwise out of sight and out of mind. And damn the Siege versions of the Holy Decepticon Trinity of Megatron, Soundwave and Shockwave sure look amazing together. Hopefully I’ll get some time to dig into Siege again next week to make up for lost time.

Dec 4 2019

Transformers Siege: Prowl and Barricade by Hasbro

It’s been a real struggle for me to get back to three reviews a week. I mean, you can see how well it’s been working out for me. So, until I get there again, In an effort to get caught up, I’m going to be trying to bundle reviews a bit more often, especially when it’s appropriate. And when I’ve got two Transformers police cars from the same mold waiting to be opened, this seems like one of those appropriate times. Let’s check out Prowl and Barricade!

If you comb back through FFZ, you will find evidence of my undying love for Prowl. The original G1 toy was one of my first Transformers, it was my favorite Autobot mold, and whenever I played with my convertorobots, he stood prominently as Optimus Prime’s first lieutenant and all around right-hand-bot. Hell, even when I watched the Sunbow cartoon I would lament and stew over the fact that Prowl wasn’t in it more often. I’ve been patiently waiting for my boy here to get a proper toy update. After all, the Classics version has aged horribly and the Combiner Wars version was really never more than a place-holder for me. As for Barricade, well I’m not someone who’s anxious to see a lot of Bayverse Transformers shoe-horned into my regular Transformers line, but I will admit that seeing Barricade turn up in Siege has intrigued me a bit. He was one of the cool things I liked about the original film and doing him as a repaint of Prowl seemed like a no-brainer. So let’s start with the alt modes!

Obviously, Siege is focused on Cybertronian alt modes, so my hopes for a proper Datsun are quickly dashed. What we get instead is a Cybertronian interpretation of the Datsun and it looks remarkably like its Earth counterpart. The only big difference is the atrophied cabin, after all these aren’t supposed to be vehicles for meat-bags, and the translucent wheels for cruising down alien roads. There are also some exaggerated contours to give the body more of a futuristic flavor. And hey, I can get behind all of this just fine. Prowl’s white body and black trim certainly looks familiar and while the Cybertronian script on the sides is unintelligible to me, it mimics the police markings just fine. There’s even a light-bar and an off-set Autobot emblem on the front of the hood. I dig it.

 

As for Barricade, he retains a good deal of his coloring from the first film and I’ll be the first to say this deco looks great. A black-and-gray body with white doors and the same alien “police” script on them gives us a perfect Cybertronian nod to the Bayverse Decepticon. The translucent purple used for the faux canopy is gorgeous and the same plastic is used for the wheels as well. The snappy new deco is tied together with a Decepticon emblem stamped on the front of the hood. It’s a great looking car!

Each figure comes with a weapon, which can be plugged into the light-bar for those rolling highway battles. Prowl’s actually resembles his G1 gun quite a bit, while Barricade’s is a double-barreled weapon which can split into two pistols. Transforming these guys is a pretty straight-forward variation of the original toy. Sure, it’s a bit more complicated, but not too much. I was able to get these guys to robot mode and back without any instructions, so you know it can’t be that hard. So how’s about them robot modes?

Yeah, what we have is very similar to the Prowl I know and love. His proportions aren’t quite perfect, as he strikes me as having extra broad shoulders. It’s a similar style to Siege Sideswipe and it is not by any means a deal-breaker for me. Quite the contrary, I think these guys look fantastic. The jutting hood chest remains my all-time favorite Autobot design, complimented by the door wings. Conspicuously absent is any sign of shoulder-mounted guns, giving all the third-party companies out there a chance to make some money. The lower legs still form out of the hatchback, but in this case heel-spurs are added to fold out and grant stability. These guys aren’t quite as well polished when viewed from the back, but I’ve certainly seen worse.

As for the decos, they remain pretty faithful to their respective car coloring. Prowl adds some yellow paint accents on his lower chest as well as the sergeant stripes on his biceps, which is just a lovely touch. Barricade adds a new color to the mix, which is like a pale gray-lavender for his arms, upper legs, and torso. As with all Siege figures, there’s a lot of detail to the sculpts by way of panel lining, and Barricade shows these off much better because of the lighter color plastic.

If you’re looking for a G1-faithful portrait, Prowl’s head sculpt is just about perfect. I don’t think I would change a thing about it. The “helmet” is well defined and includes the red horns jutting out from the center ridge. His noble Autobot face features some snappy silver paint. I’d go so far as to rate this portrait right up there with the Masterpiece version, it really is that good!

For Barricade, I’m happy to say that Hasbro designed a brand new face because the f’ugly Bayverse bug-faces just don’t belong in this line, and I really like what they did with it. His facial features aren’t quite as sharp as Prowl’s, but he does look appropriately grim. The brown face is an interesting choice and I suppose it goes well with his darker deco. The “helmet” is similar to Prowl’s as it shares the central crest with protruding horns, in this case purple, but there’s enough differences to set it apart and make it distinctive.

Obviously the guns we saw in their alt modes can be wielded in their hands. Once again, Prowl’s pays homage to the original G1 figure’s gun and is cast in white plastic. Barricade’s can be used as a single weapon or split into two pistols.

So far Siege has failed to truly disappoint me and that track record isn’t going to be upset today. Prowl and Barricade are excellent figures, and coming from me, that’s saying something because I hold my Prowl figures to high standards. Actually, I’m usually just happy enough to get them at all, but in this case Hasbro did the design proud in both robot and vehicle modes. These guys look great, are quick and easy to transform, and they are tons of fun to play around with. Of course, we haven’t seen the last of this mold, and Siege Smokescreen will be hitting my doorstep sometime next week. I probably could have waited and reviewed all three together, but I’ll just have to come back and give him his own look when I get the time.

Nov 1 2019

Transformers Siege: Titan Class Omega Supreme by Hasbro

Hasbro gets a lot of shit from collectors, some of it most definitely deserved, but I always have to give them credit for continuing to turn out these massive Titan Class Transformers. I don’t know how well they do, since Big Boxes around these parts don’t carry them, not even on endcaps at Christmas, and it’s not uncommon for some of these to turn up at deep discounted clearance at closeout stores after the holidays. Nonetheless, Omega Supreme here is the fourth Titan Class under Hasbro’s belt, and that’s if you don’t include the two big Combiners, Devastator and Predaking. Omega was a G1 toy that I never owned as a kid, so the ability to get him now in an updated version scratches a thirty-five year old itch.

Like all the Titans, Omega comes in a huge, fully enclosed box with some absolutely bitchin’ artwork on the front and some pictures of the toy on the back. This giant box was practically made to be found under a Christmas tree, and I actually considered saving him for my Christmas review this year, but in the end I knew I didn’t have the patience to wait a couple more months. Unlike previous Titans, Omega comes out of the box nearly fully assembled, so you can indeed put him back in the box for storage. That’s a big deal for me, as it means I’m more likely to keep the packaging. This time around, there’s no sticker sheet, and no batteries required, because Omega doesn’t have any electronic features. Normally, I like to start with the alt modes, but in the case of Omega here, let’s begin with his robot mode.

Holy shit, I love this robot mode! Omega’s new look draws heavily from the original toy with elements from the Sunbow animation design as well. His proportions are greatly improved upon, giving him legs that are actually useful and articulated, a separate and distinct torso, and arms that are still pretty beefy, but also more in scale with the rest of his body. I’ve seen a fair bit of griping over the gap between his boxy torso and his hips, but it never bothered me much in the pictures, and it sure as hell doesn’t bother me with the figure in hand. If anything, it’s a worthy trade off to give his legs a wider range of motion for those intimidating wide stances. Familiar design call backs include the yellow panels on his lower legs, the red chest plate, yellow shoulder pylons, and the familiar pieces of track arching up from behind those shoulders. This new design even incorporates the clear panel on the upper chest from the cartoon version, albeit with the panel changed from red to yellow. Of course, Omega also sports the same lack of hands as his G1 namesake, with his right arm ending in a triple fingered claw, and his left arm terminating in a blaster. He’s definitely not your traditional Autobot, as he’s designed to blow your face off rather than shake your hand. And while Omega is not as tall as the previous Titans, Fort Max and Metroplex, he’s still plenty big and beefy, and I think appropriately sized.

From behind, Omega is extremely polished, with no hollow portions or ugly bits. The twin cylinders that form his backpack are a new design element, but I think they look great while incorporating a clever new bit of engineering for his transformation.

The head is heavily modeled after Omega’s old Sunbow design with the sculpted face positioned behind a clear plastic shield. The expression is pretty spot on and the only big difference here is that his eyes are yellow instead of blue. And speaking of eyes, there’s some brilliant light piping going on with those peepers. The “helmet” features the two tubes coming off his “ears” and meeting at the box under his chin. He even has a cannon that can raise up out of the back of his head.

For a big boy, Omega sports lots of useful articulation. His legs have strong ratchets in the hips for front, back, and lateral movement. They’re plenty noisy, but they can support his weight with no problems. There are swivels up in the thighs, the knees bend, and there’s lateral rockers in the feet for those wide stances. The arms can rotate at the shoulders as well as hinge outward, there are swivels in the biceps, and the elbows are hinged. He can pivot at the top of his pelvis, each of the fingers on his claw are hinged twice, and his head can rotate left and right. There’s no doubt about it, Omega is a really fun toy in his robot mode and he can take and hold some pretty cool action poses. I would probably have been totally happy with this guy even if he didn’t transform, but of course he does, so let’s check out his alt mode… but before that, have a look at his little buddy Countdown.

Countdown continues the trend of giving us little robots to interact with our big ones. These are similar to the old Micromasters and more recent Minicons, and we’ve seen a resurgence of these ever since the Titans Return line. Countdown has a very cool robot mode, which includes a highly detailed head sculpt and even a painted face. That’s something we don’t always get in these little fellas. His transformation is extremely simple and his alt mode is a little moon-buggy with a satellite dish on the top. OK… now on to Omega’s alt mode…

Yup, it’s the same style of rocket base as the original toy, complete with rocket, gantry, track, and patrol tank. And while there are some nips and tucks to proportions and other little details, it remains wonderfully faithful. Getting here is pretty easy, which shouldn’t be too surprising since none of the Titan Class figures have had complex transformations. In this case, both arms come out as one piece, with a connection passing through the main body. This piece then transforms into the rocket. The tank pulls out of the body from the chest, similar to good old Power Master Optimus Prime, leaving behind the legs and shell, which form the main building/gantry. I think the biggest surprise for me was the track, which I did not realize would be raised on struts. That’s pretty cool. I also love how solid it is. While there’s nothing attaching the tank or rocket, I can still pick up the base from the main building and the track will come along, all without falling apart. On the downside, the track is a lot more compact than I remember the old toy being and that makes this big tank patrolling around it look a bit silly.

As with past Titan Class figures, Omega’s alt mode is mainly designed to be in scale with the tiny Titan Masters or Power Masters. That makes him the perfect playground for Countdown. He scales well enough to hang out in the compartment of the main building, roll down the ramps in vehicle mode, or hide in the compartments that open up on either side of the base. He also scales exceptionally well with the track when in vehicle mode. There’s almost enough room for two-way traffic. Too bad my Mini-Cons are in storage, because I’d have fun loading this base up with them.

And while the base certainly isn’t designed with larger Transformers in mind, Deluxe Class vehicles, like Ironhide here, can patrol the track pretty comfortably as well.

The rocket trades length for girth (insert phallic joke here), and in doing so, I think it makes for a more impressive display. There’s nothing actually securing the rocket to the gantry, but if you put it close enough to the main building, the yellow pylons look like they’re designed to reach out and grab it. There’s also a hinged ramp on the bottom of the open compartment of the building, but it too doesn’t actually attach to the rocket in any way. Apart from sitting pretty and being able to woosh around the room with some imagination and assistance, the only real feature to the rocket is the opening compartment at the top. It’s big enough to house a small Transformer as a pilot.

The final element, the tank, is a pretty cool piece all on its own. It’s a satisfyingly hefty vehicle with tons of sculpted detail all over. The two side cannon can raise and lower, as can the main cannon. There’s also a smaller gun that can be raised out of the back of the turret for added firepower. He has sculpted faux treads, but real wheels under him to help him roll along the track or the floor.

Finally, Omega does come with some effect parts, which can be stacked together to form a blast effect for either of his arm weapons. These can also be pulled apart and pegged in various spots to look like enemy fire impacting him. I like the idea here, but I’m not real sold on the execution. I think the coloring is a little too dark and the plastic too opaque to really make it look all that great.

I almost wish that I had broken this review down into two parts, because it felt like I didn’t have enough time to gush enough about this amazing figure. It still impresses me to no end that Hasbro is willing and capable of putting out these Titan Class Transformers, and how every damn one of them has been a direct hit. No, they ain’t cheap, but even at $160, Omega feels like he’s at a pretty good price point. He isn’t the biggest of the Titan Classes, but he feels a lot more complex than the two Autobot cities. And the fact that they nixed the electronics on this release doesn’t phase me one bit. I think this guy is libel to make most any Transformers fan happy, and that’s especially the case for me because, as I said earlier, I never owned him as a kid.

Oct 4 2019

Transformers Siege: Ironhide by Hasbro

Only having time for about three posts a week, and having a mile-high pile of toys to open, it sometimes takes me a while to give each line that I collect their due. Case in point, it’s been quite a few weeks since I’ve visited with Hasbro’s Transformers, so I decided to come back to them this week. I was hoping I would get time this week to review the big guy, Omega Supreme, but I’ve barely had any time with him out of the box. Not to mention the time it takes to DIY my pathetic little photo stage to take on a Titan Class Transformer. So, instead I’m grabbing one of the unopened Deluxe Class figures off the pile, and watch out, Decepticreeps, it so happens to be Ironhide!

Leakin’ Lubricants, check out that packaging! I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of the artwork that Hasbro is putting on these boxes, It’s gritty, hardcore, and absolutely fantastic. Poor Ironhide. He’s had such a troubled past. I might have had fun with the original figure had I gotten hold of him before seeing the Sunbow cartoon, but after that all bets were off and I rebuked that poor piece of plastic and die-cast metal for being a creepy little impostor. It wasn’t until Universe 2.0 that Hasbro would try to give us a proper G1-styled Ironhide, and that’s a figure that sure as hell hasn’t aged well. Indeed, I sold mine off the moment I saw this guy was coming. So here we go again, Siege brings us a new Deluxe Ironhide, and this line has been all about the G1 homages, so let’s rip him open and see how they did. We’ll start with the alt mode!

Siege is all about more Cybertronian-looking alt modes, and as such Ironhide is sporting a very utilitarian space truck mode. Some of these modes, like Hound’s, tend to be pretty f’ugly, but when you’re designing self-propelled alien combat vehicles, you kind of get a pass on the design department. Now, with all that having been said, I like what we got here. Ironhide is a rugged, armored vehicle, with just enough nods to his Earth van mode, that it works quite well for me. Granted, this mode looks unfinished, it doesn’t conceal a lot of the engineering, and anyone who has transformed their share of these figures is going to see what’s going on here right away,

It’s pretty obvious, to me at least, that the arms are up top behind the windshield, and that the slab on the back are going to be the feet. He transforms super quickly and the only step that’s even slightly complex is twisting the canopy piece 180-degrees to orientate it for the chest. The coloring is mostly carried by the red and gray plastics, but there’s some silver and gold in the mix too. The silver brushwork on the bumper looks great. Indeed, I do absolutely adore the way the front of this mode looks. With the high positioned canopy, the quad headlights, and those giant tubes on the bumpers, that must pack some serious firepower. It’s sort of a shame that the back of his head has to be so prominently visible through the windshield, but I guess them’s the breaks. In the end, Ironhide comes across as part Killer Moon Buggy, and part Armored Personnel Carrier. Yup, I dig it!

There are also some useful pegholes on this guy, so you can not only equip him with his rifle, but if you can use some of them weaponizer parts you may have lying around. I like to rip off Cog’s arms and pop them on top for added firepower. Let’s move on to the robot mode!

As with the alt mode, Ironhide’s robot mode takes it’s share of liberties with the G1 aesthetic. He’s not as pure an update as, let’s say, Siege Hound or Sideswipe, but the key points are there. He’s still a very beefy and boxy bot, and the windshield is right where it belongs in his upper chest. It just isn’t configured in quite the same way, laying flat instead of having the familiar angle.  Does this bot mode still work for me as Ironhide? Hell, yeah it does. It just looks like he got a little extra tweaking when he was reformatted for his Earth mode. From the back he does look rather hollow in the torso, but most of the rest of him fills out nicely. There are a few QC issues, here involving the folding panels on his legs. They don’t want to stay in the friction notches and frequently pop out out during transformation, which is apparently common for this figure. Also, they are supposed to tab into place, but they won’t stay put. Neither of these issues are huge problems, but they can be annoying.

Besides the windshield chest, there’s other stuff for me to love here. I really dig where the wheels wind up. The fronts are tucked into the sides of his torso, and the rear wheels are mostly obscured by folding plates in his lower legs. The result is a super clean robot mode, that only really offers up the kibble that it wants you to see. The coloring here is mostly the same as his alt mode, minus the gold which is now concealed. You do get that nice silver on display behind the windshield, some striping on the lower legs, and a rather reserved bit of silver weathering down near his feet.

The head sculpt is totally on point for the G1 animated look. from the circular “ears” to the prominent mohawk ridge on his “helmet.” My only complaint here is that his chest piece obscures a bit of his chin, and since he can’t look up, if you hunch him over to better see his face, he’s looking down. Ironically, the Universe 2.0 figure had a similar issue.

Ironhide comes with what I can only describe as a rocket-launcher rifle to assist him in busting Decepti-chops. This weapon is as chunky as it’s wielder and I love all the hyper-detail in the sculpt, not to mention the weathering. Unfortunately, it’s a little difficult for him to hold it properly. The stock is way too long to fit into the crook of his elbow. Still, it’s a great looking piece. He can hold it in either hand, and it can also be pegged in to make an arm cannon.

Ironhide can also sling the rifle across his back, thanks to a well-placed peghole. Plus, the weapon is hinged near the center so it can be transformed into a… um… rocket hammer? Sure, why not?

I didn’t go into this figure with a lot of excitement, because Hasbro’s initial pictures didn’t do anything for me. But now that I have him in hand, I find myself liking him quite a bit. The alt mode isn’t the best thing around, but it gets the job done and it works well for what it is. As for the robot mode, well as a G1 homage, I don’t think it holds up as well as Hound or Sideswipe, but it still looks great, and there’s no doubts about who it’s supposed to be. So far, Siege has yet to let me down, and every time I open another one of these figures, it just fuels my excitement for more. If that’s not the best compliment that I can pay to a toyline, I don’t know what is.

Aug 23 2019

Transformers Siege: Refraktor by Hasbro

It’s impossible for me to explain why I was so obsessed with Reflector in the old Transformers cartoon. Maybe it was because his appearances were a bit rare. Maybe it was because he wasn’t readily available as a toy. I’m not even sure I was aware at that age that he was a mail-away figure in the US. It’s also possible that I was fascinated by his very nature of being three robots referred to as one, not to mention the first team of robots that could merge into a single alt form. I often wondered about how that worked, and what a cool alien/sci-fi concept it was. But in the end, it was probably because there were so few Decepticons in the early days, and Reflector bolstered their numbers by three. And sometimes even more than that, thanks to some animation gaffs.

And that brings us to Refraktor! A figure that is just as interesting as his predecessor. Hasbro released him as a single character with its own alt mode, but advertised on the back that you could buy two more if you wanted to make use of their camera mode. Also, I’ll point out now that I’m going to be calling him Reflector during this review, because if I try to call him Refraktor, I’m probably just going to mess it up half the time anyway. Let’s get his bullshit alt mode out of the way first!

I think this is supposed to be a spaceship, and to be fair it isn’t all that bad. It gives me a little bit of a Sweeps vibe, especially since I have three of them. The Energon Sharkticon also comes to mind, since I used to army build the hell out of those. But to be honest, it strikes me more as a seafaring gunship. Maybe even a hydrofoil, since the landing gear looks like a set of skis. In the end, I don’t hate it, and it’s kind of cool to give these guys something a little more practical to transform into. Especially in a line called Siege. And they do look kind of cool in battle formation. Let’s just move on to the robot mode!

One of the things that struck me most about Reflector in the old G1 days was that he was one of the few Decepticons that didn’t advertise his alt mode with a lot of kibble. It was genuinely tough to figure out what the hell he turned into. It also made him look like a generic rank-and-file Decepticon warrior, which was pretty appealing too. I think Hasbro did a wonderful job with this update. It continues the Siege aesthetic of infusing the sculpt with loads of detail. That’s especially the case here in the arms and behind the clear chest panel. The coloring is pretty damn great too. Purple is always a good choice for Decepticons and it mixes well with the bare grey plastic. You also get some snazzy silver paint hits on the leg panels, feet, and the frame of his chest panel. A little splash of red on the forearms and knees, and a Decepticon emblem on the left shoulder rounds out the deco quite nicely.

From behind, Reflector doesn’t look nearly as polished. There are plenty of hollow compartments and some exposed screw-heads. But at least there isn’t a lot of kibble. Even the skids from his alt mode fold neatly into his leg compartments. There is a way to help spruce up his back view, but I’ll come back to that in a bit.

The head sculpt is extremely faithful to what I remember from the Sunbow animated version. He has the same rounded “helmet,” narrow eyes and broad mouth. The silver paint on the face looks especially good, as does the red used for the eyes, which are pretty much flawless. No question, Hasbro has been killing it with their portraits in this line, and Reflector here is no different.

The one real difference between the three robots in the cartoon was the aperture being present in one and not the other two. Here that’s easily achieved by pulling it off. Yeah, it leaves a peg hole there, but I’m OK with that. I’m sure some Third-Party company will release a bag of plugs to cover these up and charge $20 for them. No, seriously, nobody do that. I will probably be the one dumb enough to buy them.

Reflector relies heavily on two rather large pieces for his alt modes. The large cannon simply turns into a gun for his robot mode, while the other can be used as a shield. I dig both of these accessories a lot. The gun is big and beefy and has a rather distinctive low-slung armor plate. The shield is rounded and has a notch out of the top that reminds me of a riot shield. The shield piece can also be pegged onto the back, but it isn’t meant to be, which means it can fall out pretty easily. I think this is the biggest shame about the figure design, as it looks really good on the back, gets it out of the way when not being used as a shield, and it would have been really easy for Hasbro to have seen this opportunity and make it work. When I display these guys in robot mode, I will likely have two with the guns and shields and one with just the gun. Of course all of these pieces can also be combined together for the camera mode, so let’s check that out.

The camera mode is achieved by transforming each of the figures into the same folded up block and then sticking them together so that the middle one faces front. Next the three shields combine together to form the lens and the three guns combine to form the tripod, which then attaches to the camera using one of the aperture pieces. It’s very clever and overall it looks pretty good, but it’s not nearly as detailed a camera as the old G1 toy. And I’m totally OK with that, because the sacrifices were made to allow each of the bots that form it to look identical. Maybe Hasbro could have tossed in a few extra pieces to tack on and make it more convincing as a camera, but I’m totally fine with it the way it is. Also, it’s roughly the right size to give to one of the Titans like Metroplex or Fort Maximus, but really too big for any of the smaller bots.

Never in a million years did I ever think Hasbro would revisit these guys. Hell, even the first time the early pictures of him, I didn’t think the camera mode was going to be ab option. As a result, I can’t  tell you how many times I almost pulled the trigger on one of the many third-party Reflectors on the market. In the end, I’m glad I didn’t, because Hasbro’s Deluxe Class treatment scratches that itch perfectly, and for a lot less money. These guys were a bit hard to find at first, because most everyone was looking to grab three of them, but I was eventually able to get all three online for a couple of bucks under retail, and that ain’t too shabby. They’re a great little team, and I think they look fantastic when displayed with the Siege Decepticons.

Apr 19 2019

Transformers Siege: Soundwave by Hasbro

I probably should be looking at something other than a Transformer this week, since I’m getting way behind on NECA and Star Wars stuff, but I got caught up purchasing all the Transformers: Siege releases last week and because I’m digging this line so much, I was really jonesing to open another. Soundwave remains one of my favorite characters, and is always a good choice, so let’s go with him.

The Decepticons are really owning the Voyager Class in this line, with Megatron, Soundwave, and Starscream up against lonely Optimus Prime. Then again, the Autobots are all but monopolizing the Deluxes, and I guess that works for me. I almost always judge a new Transformers line by how well they do the Decepticon High Command. They did a nice job with Megatron, so needless to say, I am hoping for good things out of Soundwave. Let’s start with his alt mode. For several lines now (Titans Return being the exception), Soundwave has had this weird thing going on, where Hasbro tries to salvage his tape-cassette gimmick while not having him actually turn into a tape deck. I kind of get that. Deploying mini Decepticon warriors is a huge part of what makes him so unique and before the whole retro-80’s craze, a lot of kids probably couldn’t identify with a cassette player as a toy. And so this time around, Hasbro gave Soundwave the alt mode of a Cybertronian space cruiser.

And as far as bullshit, made-up alt modes go, I honestly don’t think this one is all that bad. And yes, I realize I’m in the minority here, because I’ve seen plenty of shade thrown at this toy for this very reason. Truth be told, I kind of dig this chunky design. It kind of reminds me of some of the old Wing Commander designs, and that ain’t a bad thing. It also actually takes some engineering to get between robot mode and this alt mode. Indeed, the only thing about this mode that I don’t like is the giant tape door on the back.

The coloring and finish are both great. You get a pretty typical Soundwave-y deco with a lot of deep blue and gray. The weathering is nicely done and I think it contributes well to making this look like a well-used spaceship. Additional paint hits like the red trim on the weapon pods and the silver, yellow, and red panels add to the visual appeal. And that’s really all I have to say about this thing. I’m surprised at how much I dig it, but I’m really here for the robot mode, so let’s jump right into that.

In his bot mode, Soundwave emits waves of pure G1 goodness. I absolutely adore this figure. I mean, nothing is ever going to live up to the Masterpiece version, but for a retail release, this is just so damn good. All the tape deck features are here, for no reason at all, like the buttons on his pelvis and the giant tape door in his chest. He even has his battery shoulder cannon. Does any of this make sense? Nope. Do I care. Also, nope. But besides being very traditional looking, Soundwave is also distinctively Siege. Hasbro has taken the basic G1 Soundwave design and dipped it into the hyper-detailed look of Siege, with a crazy number of panel lines and other little details pressed into the sculpt, coupled with the weathered paintwork and the scratches all over the tape door. He looks fantastic.

Soundwave looks pretty damn good from the back as well. His legs are filled out, and with the exception of the backpack, there’s nothing terribly out of place here. And while that backpack isn’t really a traditional Soundwave feature, I think it looks great. Plus, if you fold open the backpack you can see that Hasbro still sculpted in a reference to the belt clip that was on the original toy. Pretty cool! There’s some kibble under the forearms, but it’s not too obtrusive, and you can even fold them out as retractable blasters.

The rest of the deco matches what we saw in the spaceship mode, so there aren’t really any surprises there. Nice touches include the colored panels just below his knees, and the thin red stripes around his wrists. The pelvic buttons are painted silver, and his tape door features a gold border. I’ve already mentioned the abrasions painted onto the tape door, and while I wasn’t sure how I would feel about those when I got the figure in hand, I can’t deny they’re well done, as is the weathering on the lower legs. Granted, if you’re looking for clean bots, these figures aren’t for you, but I have really grown to love the battle-worn flavor of this line.

I have no complaints about the head sculpt. The detail here is really nice, especially the recessed vents on the lower half of his “helmet.” It’s all very sharp for a head this small. Some people are apt to complain about the choice to go with the toy accurate yellow visor. Me? I prefer the yellow visor, but it wouldn’t have been a deal-breaker if they had gone with red. Either way, just look at that glorious light-piping. The visor catches the light easily and really brings the portrait to life.

Not only does Soundwave’s tape door spring open at the push of a button, but they also sculpted a finger on his right hand especially to push the button. Wonderful! He doesn’t come with any tapes, but Hasbro has since released Laserbeak and Ravage as Micromasters, which are compatible. I was hoping to squeeze them into today’s review, but I went a little long, so I’ll hopefully be able to circle back to them next week if time permits.

He does, however come with two weapons. Well, three if you count the removable shoulder cannon. The first handgun is his other battery rifle, which is a pitch-perfect match for the original G1 weapon. The beam emitter even retracts into the battery portion, and as we saw, it’s used for the spaceship mode.

The other weapon is a simple folding gun. It can be used to turn both of Soundwave’s battery weapons into one long gun. Otherwise, it’s nothing special and doesn’t really feel like it belongs to him, so I’ll likely be giving it away to another lucky bot.

I passed on the Titan Returns Leader Class Soundwave, because it was just way too similar to Blaster, so this is the first regular retail release of Soundwave in a while that I can say I really love. I get it, some people are not going to like this alt mode, but I was surprised at how little it bothered me. And once I get those Micromaster tapes opened up next week, Soundwave will really feel complete!