Tag Archives: transformers

Mar 2 2011

Transformers Generations: Sergeant Kup by Hasbro

Oh yeah, new Transformers! Woo Hoo! It’s been a looong time since I’ve found any new Transformers hanging on the pegs. The lack of TF’s featured here certainly doesn’t mean I’m losing my adoration for this beloved line, but the new Generations figures just haven’t been showing up in my area until now. I’m still trying to find Tracks and Jazz, but when I was picking up groceries at Wally World this morning I found Kup and Scourge buried on peg. Today we’ll kick off my look at this pair with everybody’s favorite Autobot war vet curmudgeon, Kup.

It may have been a while, but the packaging for Generations hasn’t changed a bit. In fact the only real difference I notice is that the bubble is no longer cluttered up with stickers advertising The Hub network or whatever else Hasbro is schilling. Kup comes carded in his vehicle mode with his “musket” mounted next to him and there’s the ubiquitous bio blurb on the back. I really don’t have anything else to say about the packaging. It looks ok, and it’s easy to tear into. That’s really all I’m looking for here. I’m guessing Hasbro lost the trademark to Kup somewhere along the way, only instead of just slapping the word “Autobot” in front of his name, they went with “Sergeant.” I’m cool with that.

Of course, long time Transfans will remember that the original G1 Kup was a futuristic pickup truck and the Generations version springboards off of that concept pretty nicely. This version is certainly rooted in a more realistic design with a touch of retro thrown in, but I think the homage is still pretty well defined. This Kup has a more functional truck bed and rolls along nicely on his wheels. He also pegs together really well in his vehicle mode and allows for his rifle to be stored underneith, where the barrel peeks out the back to become one of his exhaust pipes. The toy is cast in a color very similar to the original Kup, and features very little else in the way of paint apps. All in all, it’s an attractive alt mode, perhaps blemished just a bit by the seaming along the doors and the curious fact that you can see where some of the parts of the toy were removed from the mold trees.

Kup’s robot mode is a homerun, which made me somewhat surprised about how easy his transformation is. With the exception of fiddling with his arms to get them just right, and the fact that his shoulders don’t really peg in to anything, he’s remarkably simple to get from truck to bot and back again. While Kup’s lower half may be at odds with the original character, not to mention sporting some enormous feet, from the waist up, it’s pretty amazing just how Hasbro’s designers were able to nail this toy’s faithful look. I’m particularly fond of how the head sculpt turned out, as it’s remarkably close to his animated G1 predecessor. Yes, the arms are a little fidgity, particularly with the way the wheels on his shoulders just seem to float, but they’re serviceable and they can hold his weapon just fine.

The Generations line has yet to really disappoint me, and that record holds strong with Kup here. He’s a fantastic looking figure that manages to take the original character design, tweak it here and there and create a marvelous update to a character I really loved as a kid and still do. I was never satisfied with the original Kup toy (but then the original G1 movie-based toys were never my favorites) and Kup really hasn’t head any loving since, so this updated figure was long overdue.

Feb 11 2011

Transformers Energon: Terrorcons Divebomb and Insecticon by Hasbro

Welcome back for more terrific Terrorcons. Last time we looked at Battle Ravage and Cruellock, now it’s time for the last two: Divebomb and Insecticon. Like their Terrorcon bretheren, these guys are Scout Class figures with alt modes based on cybernetic style beasts. Divebomb is a falcon or an eagle or some kind of bird of prey while Insecticon looks like some sort of dung beetle. Let’s take a look…

I have absolutely no idea what kind of cyber-birdy Hasbro was going for with Divebomb’s alt mode, but I do know I love it. I’m particularly fond of all the mechanical details in the sculpt, like the air intakes and the fans on the wings. His wings are ball jointed where they meet the body and are hinged about halfway across, giving him a good deal of poseability in his beast mode. His legs are also ball jointed and hinged at the talons. I can’t believe we’ve gone this long without seeing a Laserbeak style repaint of Divebomb, but I can only hope that one day it may still happen. Maybe when I’m ambitious enough I’ll take one of the five or six of these guys I own and give it a try myself, but my past luck customizing Transformers has been less than stellar.

 

With such a great beast mode, you might expect Divebomb’s robot mode to be really crappy, but it turns out to be my favorite of all the Terrorcons. In fact, it gives off a major Gundam vibe to me, at least in the legs. He’s definitely not what I would consider a conventional looking Transformer. He’s got great poseability and he has an awesome pair of energon blades that attach to his arms. I also like that his robot head has a slight bird motif to it, just to carry the theme along. Divebomb is an amazingly fun figure and very well rounded for being a Scout Class.

 

And last up is Insecticon. I haven’t heard a lot of opinions about this figure, but the few I have heard seem to suggest a real love him or hate him attitude. I’m definitely of the love him version, despite the fact that he’s such a squat little guy in his robot form and definitely lacks the dynamic articulation of his peers, but I’m getting ahead of myself. His cyber-beetle mode is great. I love the sculpting in his legs, complete with hydraulics and the teeth in his mechanical pincer. His legs are all on ball joints and his pincer can move up and down. His energon drill attaches to his head and nearly doubles him in size, although it’s pretty ungainly and I tend to prefer to display him in bug mode without it.

Like I said, he’s pretty squat in his robot mode and a lot of that is due to his interesting transformation. He’s got a crazy looking face sculpt and not much use in his stubby arms, although he can hold that huge drill as a weapon, and it still looks just as ungainly. But in the end, I honestly think that this is a fantastic homage, not so much to the original G1 Insecticons, but rather the three less popular G1 Deluxe Insecticons.

And that finishes off the Energon Terrorcons. These guys are still fairly easy to find on Ebay and shouldn’t set you back a lot of scratch. If you buy them loose, just make sure you get all the Energon goodies with them, because they make up a huge part of these figures’ overall fun factor. I used to have a bad habit of picking up extra Terrorcons when I was out on toy hunts and couldn’t find anything else to buy, but like I said yesterday, there aren’t many army builders to take advantage of in the Transformers universe, so it was always hard for me to resist.

Feb 10 2011

Transformers Energon: Terrorcons Battle Ravage and Cruellock by Hasbro

[Ugh, it’s been a dicey week for me, what with some long hours at work and a lot of hardcore drinking to fuel me through it. It’s taken its toll on Figurefan in the past few days, but I’m coming out of it and I’m ready to crawl into bed for about twelve hours and emerge refreshed and ready to go. In the meantime, it’s been way too long since I’ve looked at any Transformers, so today I’m going to do the first of a two part look at the four of the Energon series Terrorcons. -FF]

I really loved the Transformers: Energon toys, but don’t ask me to tell you a lot about the Energon cartoon. I’ve tried to watch it many times, but I usually wind up wandering away to do something more meaningful and interesting like scrub out the bottom of my refridgerator or organize my sock drawer. One of the cool things, however, that was introduced in the series was the Terrorcons, a sub-line of drones that were dispatched to hunt down energon and swarm around like a plague of locusts. The Terrorcons were basically the Decepticons answer to the Autobot Omnibots. The toys consisted of four different molds, and a fair number of repaints, and today we’re going to start out by looking at Battle Ravage and Cruellock.

I remember being ridiculously excited about getting Battle Ravage back when he was first released. Besides looking like a really cool figure, he was the first time that the G1 Ravage design had been revisited with any success. Getting a Ravage figure that transformed into an actual robot was a pretty cool idea too and I still like to display him with some of my other lines of Transformers. His beast mode features a really good level of articulation and the design is a great balance between beast and robot. The head sculpt is particularly awesome and I love the spiked ball that forms his tail. Ravage has an energon star that mounts on his back and two energon weapons that mount on his shoulders, one fires a purple missile and the other is a pretty darn good replica of G1 Megatron’s fusion cannon, albeit cast in translucent yellow.

Transforming Battle Ravage is pretty simple, and probably entails exactly what you might expect from a small beastformer. His back legs become is robot legs and his front legs become his arms. It’s not terribly imaginative, but it works and the little flip that the torso does to reveal the head is kind of cool. Ravage can hold his tail as a weapon and his energon weapons can be mounted on his shoulder or held in his hands. Battle Ravage is a really fun little figure and really demonstrates a lot of what I loved about the Energon toys.

Next up is the ridiculously named Cruellock. While you can draw the obvious thread back to Grimlock, Cruellock isn’t quite the clear cut homage that Battle Ravage tries to be. Granted, he is a robot dinosaur that transforms into a robot, so the connection is definitely there. I like Cruellock well enough, but not nearly as much as Battle Ravage. In dinosaur mode, ok let’s call him a raptor, he’s nicely sculpted and I really like the way the energon parts look on him. But his pelvis is loose and wobbly and his head is pretty obviously visible right under the dinosaur’s mouth, even if it is turned around. He’s still a fun figure, but not terribly stable.

Transforming him involves a lot of the pretty basic stuff as Battle Ravage. His raptor feet become his robot feet and his raptor arms his robot arms. The clever part just involves pushing his pelvis together, which pushes his raptor head back and reveals his head. Meanwhile his tail splits apart and the energon piece becomes his sword. I’ll grant that there’s some impressive little mechanics at work here for what is essentially a Scout Class figure, and while his robot mode does look good, it’s pretty obvious that there isn’t much to the transformation, especially with his raptor head and tail hanging off the back.

It’s easy to quibble over little things about both of these figures, but the truth is that I still can’t help but love them both. They’re relatively simple, but loads of fun and look really good in both their cyber-beast and robot modes. They’re energon weapons also give you a little leeway to mess around with trying different combinations. These guys are also fun to army build, something you don’t get to do a whole heck of a lot in Transformers collecting. I found a lot to love in Energon, but if I could bring one element of it back to get more toys, it would definitely be more Terrorcons. Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at the other two figures in this sub-line: Divebomb and Insecticon.

Jan 24 2011

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen: Bludgeon by Hasbro

It’s been a while since I last looked at any Transformers, but that’s because the new ones still haven’t shown up in my area yet. Nonetheless, I’ve still got a few sitting on my shelves that I never did get around featuring here and one in particular goes all the way back to the Revenge of the Fallen line. I only just picked up Bludgeon a few months ago. He’s an homage to the old G1 Pretender character and while I’ve never been a fan of the Pretenders, I’m glad I finally got around to buying this guy because he’s a very interesting and in some ways innovative figure.

rotfblud8

Here’s a blast from the past… it’s the old ROTF style packaging. I never much cared for it, mainly because the Egyptian style hieroglyphics on the back don’t really scream Transformers to me. Yeah, it’s a tie-in to the dopey movie, but I’d much rather have my grid-pattern back. I do, however, enjoy the fact that the appropriate faction symbol is shown rising out of the Transformers logo. The package also shows off the NEST emblem, which means this figure was released at the tail end of the ROTF line, along with a number of releases of characters that were never actually in the movie. Bludgeon is one of those figures, although he really belongs as part of the Classics/Universe/Generations collection. I’m guessing he wound up here just because there was nowhere else to really put him.

rotfblud11

rotfblud12

Bludgeon is packaged in his tank mode, so let’s start off with that. He’s an older and more realistically styled tank then we’ve gotten out of Transformers in a little while. I really love the sculpted detail on this toy, as there’s barely any part of it that doesn’t have some detailing. You get sculpted rivets, hatches, vents, and even tools. And holy crap, Bludgeon also has real rubber treads, which is pretty rare in Transformers tanks and always a big plus in my book. The turret rotates 360 degrees and features two non-firing missile pods and a machine gun by the top hatch that also rotates 360 degrees.

rotfblud13

rotfblud10

The bulk of the tank is a comprised of a very appropriate olive green plastic with some white parts showing, mainly on the weapons. There are some unfortunate neon orange sections peeking out here and there, but not quite enough to ruin the overall military motif. Lastly, there’s a Decepticon emblem stamped toward the front of the apron.

rotfblud9
It’s worth noting that the box lists Bludgeon as having an “advanced” transformation, and he does at that. The first couple times transforming him was a real pain in the ass. He’s got some very innovative movements, particularly in his legs and pelvis. Once I figured out what was going on, I found getting him from tank to robot mode pretty easy, but getting him back into tank mode is still a fidgety affair for me. His transformation also involves revealing his two weapons: A katana sword and a tanto. The katana is stored in his main cannon and just pulls right out. You can do it either during or after transformation. As for the tanto… I’ll get to that in a few ticks.

rotfblud1

rotfblud7

In robot mode, Bludgeon’s design will likely strike people as brilliant or garbage. The homage to the G1 character design is certainly obvious. He’s patterned after a samurai warrior with a skull mask, which is pretty creepy. The high points of the figure include the way the rubber treads disconnect and hang down off his hips and shoulders. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before in a Transformer and it’s pretty cool. I’ll also go on record and say that, unlike the tank mode, the neon orange in the deco works fine for me in the robot mode. Another strong point is the articulation. You get plenty of hinges and swivels to work with. On the downside, the tank plates on his hips really get in the way of decent poses, and those ankles really scream out for some lateral rockers.

rotfblud2

rotfblud3

The tank turret lands on his back and you can position the barrel straight up, or tilt it diagonally to the side and treat it like a scabbard for his katana. The turret also opens up to reveal a small scabbard inside holding the tanto. While I really enjoy the engineering at work here, it seems like a lot of effort to go through just to store a little weapon. It’s also not really necessary since he has slots on his left hip armor to carry both edged weapons.

rotfblud4

rotfblud5

rotfblud6

Seeing as how I’m not a fan of the Pretenders and I don’t have a Samurai fetish, I’m definitely not the TransFan that Bludgeon is aimed at. That having been said, I dig him in a quirky way and it’s impossible for me not to respect the effort and imagination that went into this figure. He’s certainly one of the coolest and most distinctive releases to come out of this Expanded Universe RotF line, except for maybe Mindwipe, for whom I will have an eternal soft spot in my heart. Now, if you happen to be one of those weirdos that think the Pretenders was just awesome, then you’ll probably go absolutely nuts over this figure. It’s an unexpected homage and a love letter to fans of the waning days of Generation 1. Sure, he isn’t an actual Pretender, but the homage to the character is one hundred percent solid all the same.

Dec 31 2010

Transformers Generations: Thunderwing by Hasbro

It’s a Transformers Generations double feature today, as I’m trying to get as much stuff cleaned out as I can before the end of 2010. Y’all know Hasbro is digging deep for their G1 fanwank homages when they start referencing the Pretenders toys. As if just to show you that Bludgeon wasn’t an isolated incident [Note to self: Get around to reviewing Bludgeon -FF], now we get Thunderwing, and even though he’s inspired by a sub-line of toys that I hated with a passion, I think he turned out absolutely awesome.

thundw12

Yes, it’s the typical Generations packaging. There’s nothing new here. Thunderwing comes carded in his jet mode and there’s a bio blurb about him on the back of the card. Apparently he’s quite the badass. Cool! Thunderwing fills out the bubble very nicely, thanks to his two missile launchers. Oh yeah, I also melted off the Decepticon logo because I forgot to turn off my flash. Sorry.

thundw9

Take a look back at the in-package picture and you’ll see the Level on this figure is labeled as Easy. Yes, Thunderwing has a really simple transformation and that’s reflected in his alt mode. If you turn him over in jet mode, you can pretty much see what’s going to happen and if you’re not a fan of seeing a nearly perfect robot glaring back at you from the undercarriage of a jet, this may annoy you. The only surprise in the engineering is the way his legs fold out from behind his chest piece, and honestly, I think Hasbro did that just so that he wouldn’t be even more simple. After all, they could have just had his upper legs telescope into his lower legs and it would have worked just as well. Nonetheless, Thunderwing is a perfect example of how a Transformer can be simple and still pretty damn cool. And speaking of cool, Thunderwing also features a detachable drone!

thundw11

There’s something about Thunderwing’s jet mode that I absolutely love. He looks like he would fit right in flying in formation with the Seekers or Coneheads. The grey, blue and purple color scheme works really well for a Decepticon and there’s a ton of sculpted detail across the surface of the toy. Let’s face it, you can’t have too many Decepticon jets.

thundw10

While the jet mode is a great looking toy, it’s not without a few blemishes. The wings have a habit of coming detached from the body a little too easily. There’s just nothing there to tab into and you can see in a few of my pictures that there’s a gap. Secondly, the robot kibble under the jet doesn’t offer any ground clearance. So, even though he has three sets of flip down landing gear, he can’t really rest on them. Finally, his robot arms don’t peg in anywhere. They don’t really flop about, but it’s pretty uncommon that Hasbro doesn’t include some way to secure all the robo-bits in alt mode. But enough nitpicks about the jet, let’s see how the robot mode fares…

thundw1

Yeah, baby, check out that robot mode! I love it! It’s very reminiscent of the original G1 Thunderwing’s Pretender shell. The organic, rounded look to the arms and legs remind me of the style introduced in the 1986 movie designs, albeit not so much what was reflected in the toys at the time. Sure he’s wearing most of his jet mode on his back, but I think it folds up pretty well and I love how the Decepticon insignia on his wing tips are properly orientated for his robot mode. I’m also a big fan of the way his guns angle off of his shoulders.

thundw3

Even in robot mode, you can still store his missile launchers on his wings. It’s a little bulky, but I like the fact that there’s somewhere to put them. I also really dig the fact that he can launch his drone right off his back when he’s in robot mode. That would come in handy.

thundw5

thundw7

thundw6

Of course, the missile launchers can be removed and placed in his hands to be used as guns. And caution is advised, because these babies have hair triggers and a pretty good firing distance.

thundw2

Thunderwing’s head sculpt isn’t what I would call traditional, but it certainly features a lot of personality. He has a full “helmet” with some very cross eyebrows and a beautifully painted gold face with a rather intimidating and monstrous mouth. And the light piping! Oh, the glorious light piping! It works really well on this figure.

thundw8

thundw4

I’ll concede that there are a few things about Thunderwing that may put people off and it’s possible that all but the most hardcore fans are likely to miss the nature of his homage. Even I had to look him up in one of my books to remind me what the original Pretender looked like, and I’m rarely stumped when it comes to my G1 references. And yes, if you’re all about clever and complex transformations, then Thunderwing probably isn’t for you. But if it sounds like I’m talking this figure down, that’s far from the case. He’s a very fun Deluxe and a welcome addition to my Decepticon Air Force.

[And that’ll do me for this year. I’m off to take a nap and then I’ve got some serious drinking to do. I will crawl out from under my bed tomorrow long enough to upload my daily post. Until then, be safe and enjoy! -FF]

Dec 31 2010

Transformers Generations: War For Cybertron Cliffjumper by Hasbro

Even before Hasbro leaked the pictures, we all knew it was coming. The inevitable repaint of War For Cybertron Bumblebee as Cliffjumper. I found this guy on the pegs last week and hesitated for a bit as to whether I really needed to own a second version of this mold. Ultimately, it was the resculpted head and the fact that this mold nicely fits the Tron vibe that’s all the rage right now. Plus, I can’t help it, I love me some Cliffjumper, he was such a little prick in the G1 cartoon and he wasn’t afraid to try to kick Megatron’s ass all by himself.

Cliffjumper comes in the standard Generations packaging, but like all the War For Cybertron figures, he comes packed in his robot mode. It’s a doubly good idea here since it allows hesitant buyers like me to see the new head sculpt. The bubble has the now familiar sticker advertising Hasbro’s new network, The Hub, where you can go watch another version of Cliffjumper get shot, resurrected as a slobbering zombie, get cut in half, and then blown up at the center of a hundred megaton Energon explosion. If the ridculous rumor floating around the Intertubes aboutWar for Cybertron and TF: Prime being of the same continuity, then Cliffjumper here is better off staying on Cybertron. [BTW, Hasbro, if I don’t eventually get a Cliffjumper figure with steer horns on the hood of his alt mode, I’m going to be one unhappy little TransFan. -FF]


If you go back and read my review of WFC Bumblebee, you’ll find that I really dig this vehicle mode. I already mentioned it has that great Tron look to it, and it still looks great here, painted over in red. I definitely dig Cliffjumper’s translucent headlights over Bumblebees, and the yellow stripes on his windows really stand out nicely. Apart from those little touches, I’d rate the two versions pretty close together in terms of their aesthetic quality. As with Bumblebee, Cliffjumper’s blaster can be stowed away behind his rear bumper when he’s in vehicle mode.

One of my biggest complaints about Bumblebee was his fidgity and unforgiving transformation. Now that I’ve owned the mold for a little while, that isn’t really as big an issue with Cliffjumper. As with al shell formers, you still need to get everything just right to get him into his alt mode, but the pegs and tabs are all there to hold him together, so long as you know what you’re doing.  

In robot mode, Cliffjumper still has that Dr. Robotnix look to him on account of his somewhat spindly legs and bulbous torso. I’ve found that it’s not so bad looking when you’re viewing him from the side or an angle, but from straight on, he just looks kind of silly. Apart from that I really dig this robot mode, particularly how most of his shell just folds away neatly into a backpack, which isn’t at all obtrusive or an eyesore. The new headsculpt is excellent and very faithful to the G1 animated character design. It is, however a little on the small side, especially when he’s standing next to Bumblebee.

In addition to his little blaster, Cliffjumper has Energon blades that snap out from his wrists. I loved these things on Bumblebee and I love them here too.

Cliffjumper has good articulation, save for his shoulders, which while they are ball jointed, they hang off his torso at an angle, which really makes posing his arms a little off. Aside from that, he has a ball jointed neck, hinged elbows and swivel wrists. His legs are ball jointed at the hips and he has hinged knees.


I thought I might end up with buyer’s remorse on this figure, but I’m really glad I picked him up. I still wish the mold wasn’t so big, as Bumblebee and Cliffjumper look pretty beefy when compared to other WFC figures like Prime, Megatron and Soundwave, but I wouldn’t want to have seen these guys shrunken down to Scout sized figures, so I guess it’s all good. Honestly, though, if you already have Bumblebee, you know exactly what you’re getting with this figure, so you probably already know whether or not you need him in your collection or if he’s an easy pass.

Dec 28 2010

Transformers Hunt for the Decepticons: Highbrow by Hasbro

Some of you might remember, a couple of reviews back, that I commented on how I rarely ever have a problem finding Transformers at retail. So long as I’m patient enough, they all turn up eventually. The one recent exception to that rule was Highbrow, and low and behold, I finally found him on the shelf while making a grocery run to Walmart the other day.

At first glance, this looks like a normal Hunt for the Decepticon Voyager Class box. Highbrow comes in his robot mode and the window is scattered with stickers for The Hub, the HFTD website, and anything else Hasbro is schilling this week. They did, however, mix it up a bit on the packaging here. Instead of having all the goodies on the back panel, the bio blurb and tech specks is located on one of the side panels, leaving just the photos of the toy on the back. It’s odd and I don’t recall ever seeing them do this before. Was it like this on Seaspray? I just don’t remember. Anyway… moving on.



Highbrow’s alt mode is basically a fighter plane right out of Capcom’s Strikers 1945 game. Seriously, as far as I’m concerned this figure is like some kind of impossibly awesome unofficial Transformers-Capcom crossover, which makes me wish for all kinds of similar arcade shooter crossovers. Transformers R-Type, anyone? The aircraft is slightly reminiscent of a P-47, but with a decidedly retro sci-fi styling to it. The sculpt is fantastic, with tons of sculpted rivets and panel lines and the green, grey and blue deco is pretty much perfect. Highbrow’s machine guns are detachable and if you press the engines behind each of the props, the blades will spin. Suffice it to say, I love this alt mode. It’s easily one of my favorites from the entire year.

 


Highbrow has an interesting transformation. It’s not overly complicated, but it is interesting to see how the toy incorporates the tailbooms and wings into his robot mode. The results, however, are a bit of a mixed bag. For starters, Highbrow’s arms are just strange. The forearms are short, wonky and kibbletastic. I appreciate the props on his arms, as they can double as a weapon, but these are not good arms. Remember X-Brawn from Robots in Disguise with the front of the car hanging off his arm? Ok, this isn’t that bad, but it’s the first thing I think of when I look at Highbrow’s arms. He’s also got some serious child-bearing hips going on, that look completely out of place under his waist.

That’s not to say he’s all bad in bot form. I like the way his chest incorporates the folding landing gear and the missile racks on his hips is very cool and reminiscent of Energon Bulkhead/Quickstrike. You can also holster his guns on his hips by pegging them in, which is always a nice touch. The head sculpt is really cool and reminscent of a vintage aviator’s hood with goggles and the light piping in his eyes works really well. I do think the coloring on the figure works better in his alt mode, as his robot mode is mostly gray and powder blue, which isn’t all that exciting.

I know I picked on Highbrow quite a bit, but he’s not at all a bad Transformer. I think I was just really excited about finding him and my expectations were probably set a little too high. His alt mode is stellar, and his robot mode is still solid, even with the noted flaws. I can still recommend him wholeheartedly. And while Highbrow isn’t really an authentic WWII design, I hope he sells well and Hasbro decides to create some more Transformers with vintage-style alt modes. It really is a pretty vast and untapped area with loads of potential.

Dec 21 2010

Transformers: Legends Class Sandstorm by Hasbro

So, I don’t buy many of these Legends figures, but I stumbled upon Sandstorm on the pegs this weekend and I learned my lesson last time about not picking up the G1-styled Legends as soon as I see them. Which is, coincidently, why I don’t have this mold from when it was originally released as Beachcomber. But I absolutely love the idea of Hasbro releasing the vintage G1 Minibots as reimagined Legendsfigures and if they did this more often, I’d probably buy them all. I don’t need to be spending five bucks for a smaller version of a figure I just payed ten bucks to have as a Deluxe, but give me original figures in this class and I’m all over them. I also just think that the Legends size fits better with the simpler G1 stylings.

Sandstorm comes on a simple Hunt for the Decepticons style card and a bubble cluttered with Hasbro’s annoying stickered advertising for The Hub and their website. I honestly don’t remember if there was a bio on the back of the package, as I tore it open and threw it out pretty quick and I’m pretty sure it’s at the bottom of the can with coffee grinds all over it. Like all these new fangled Legends Class figures nowadays, Sandstorm comes packaged in his robot mode. he package lists him as a Level 1 conversion, which is Very Easy.

As a repaint of Beachcomber, Sandstorm is still a nice little dune buggy. His buggy mode is certainly simple, but it works well for this size and it even has a little removable gun and a spare tire too. Not a lot else to say here, except I think it was pretty clever for Hasbro to repaint this guy as Sandstorm. I never would have thought of it in a million years, and yet seeing the toy in person it seems to make perfect sense. Even though he obviously isn’t a Triplechanger, the homage is a solid one.

Obviously, Sandstorm’s transformation is pretty simple, although it does have a snazzy little torso-slide-head-reveal that is very impressive on a toy this small. Admittedly, in robot form the homage to Sandstorm falls apart, as Beachcomber and Sandstorm looked nothing alike and this figure clearly just looks like a beige Beachcomber. Even still, this is a great little figure, and I’m glad to see Hasbro getting a second use out of the mold. Especially considering I wouldn’t have owned it otherwise. I think it would have been cool if his gun could have been held in his hand, but I think that might be expecting too much from this sized toy.

The articulation consists of arms that rotate at the shoulders and have some lateral movement, and legs that rotate at the hips and bend at the knees as part of the transformation. It’s certainly decent enough poseability for a toy this size.

Sandstorm was a total surprise to me. In this age of the Interwebs, I’m seldom aware of all the Transformers that are coming down the pipe, and by the time they get into my hands, I usually know everything about them. Still, I had no idea that Hasbro was planning this Legendsrepaint, and every now and then surprises like this are really nice.

Dec 16 2010

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen: Mindwipe by Hasbro

Generally speaking, I don’t have a problem finding Transformers at retail. In fact, it’s probably one of the few toylines I collect that I can actually say that about. Of course, every once and a while there’s an exception. Most recently, it was Highbrow from the Hunt for the Decepticons line, but back when Revenge of the Fallen was out, that one elusive figure was Mindwipe. I’d only seen him once at retail and that was at some Kmart where they were charging like $29.99 for him and so I passed. But just this past week I was finally able to pick him up.

Been a while since I’ve seen this… a Revenge of the Fallen box. Actually this is part of the NEST subline, but the box remains pretty much the same. If I cared about preserving the packaging, I would really hate all these jaggy edges. Mindwipe comes packaged in his stealth fighter jet mode with just two twisty ties standing in the way of his freedom.

As a stealth fighter, Mindwipe is pretty sweet. His overall configuration bears a slight resemblance to Cybertron Soundwave, but don’t hold that against him. As alt modes go, the stealth fighter mode is a nice compromise, since Mindwipe was a robotic vampire bat in the original G1 continuity. The jet mode looks outstanding, although you really need to flanagal it right to make it mesh together perfectly. The jet is mostly green with a few purple paint apps, a red translucent cockpit and some unfortunate silver tattoos on the wings, which I would have rather Hasbro left out.

If you’re into play features, Mindwipe’s jet mode is pretty barren. There isn’t so much as a firing missile launcher to be found. That doesn’t bother me at all, when the toy looks this good, but I realize it may put off some people. Although, there is one cool little feature. If you happen to own the ROTF Scout Class Skystalker figure he can dock with Mindwipe when he’s in his drone jet mode. You just peg him right onto the top. It’s rather nifty to have two such awesome figures interact like this, and it’s also a nice little nod to the Robots in Disguise Dreadwind and Smokejumper figures, or if you prefer, Beast Wars Neo Starscream and BB.

And then there’s Mindwipe’s robot mode, which is like Hasbro mixed the plastic with pure, concentrated awesome. Mindwipe’s transformation isn’t overly complex and yet it is surprisingly satisfying. His mech alive gimmick includes a simple auto-transformation of his wing tips as you move them into place. Overall, his proportions and design are drop dead sexy and his head sculpt is easily my favorite in the entire line. I particularly like how he has two creepy beady eyes peering out from behind the translucent visor. There are also a fair number of tweaks you can do to personalize his robot mode, with regard to the position of the wings on his shoulders and his back. I think the only downside of Mindwipe is that he makes me a little sad inside that this wasn’t more akin to the mold used for Starscream, because it’s superior in every possible way. Seriously, whoever designed this figure was possibly under the influence of divine inspiration.

Mindwipe’s articulation includes a ball jointed head, shoulders that feature double hinges as well as rotating arms, and double hinges again in his elbows. His legs have universal movement at the hips as well as hinged joints in the knees and ankles. He also has retracting energon daggers positioned under each of his forearms.

Even if you aren’t a fan, or don’t even remember much about the original Mindwipe, this figure has all the chops it needs to stand on his own as a marvelous Transformer in any line. He also does a good job of straddling the design elements of the movieverse and something a bit more akin to the Classics scene, which means he should be able to find a home in just about any Transfan’s collection.

Dec 3 2010

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen: Grindor by Hasbro

It’s been a fun little ride this week looking at some of the whirlybird bots in my collection. There were a few more I wanted to get to, but I’m ready to move on to other things, as the toys are piling up. So, I thought we’d look at just one more tonight with Revenge of the Fallen’sGrindor. Grindor is a repaint of the Voyager Class Blackout figure that was released in the first movie lineup. I didn’t buy a lot of toys from the first movie, so I missed out on Blackout and wound up settling for his grey cousin, who bewilderingly showed up in the second movie just long enough to pick up Sam’s car and deliver it to Megatron. Yeah.


As a helicopter, Grindor is ok. The right side panel on mine doesn’t peg in like it’s supposed to, which is a constant irritant. There’s also the Scorponok cage, but more on that in a minute. He doesn’t feature a lot of exciting colors or paint apps, but his grey and black motif are pretty good for a military vehicle. There’s a black button on the back of the tail boom that spins the rotors when pumped. Grindor carries a flip down cage under his tail boom that can hold the little Scorponok figure. Theoretically, you can press a button to deploy him, but the catch is weak and Scorponok usually just deploys whenever he damn well feels like it. There’s not much to say about Scorponok. He’s a little PVC figure with a spring loaded tail. If you’re looking for realism, then next to Tomahawk, Grindor is certainly the most realistic helicopter, but you could argue that also makes him a tad boring.

It says a lot about Grindor’s transformation that you can literally just take the entire top and back of the helicopter off and still have the robot figure intact. In fact, he’s a lot better without all the alt mode chopper kibble. Of course, I find removing a quarter of the alt mode an unacceptable prospect in good Transformer design. It also doesn’t help that some of his bits fall off when I transform him.

At his core, Grindor’s robot mode is pretty good and bears a decent resemblance to Blackout’s movie design, albeit a bit chunkier and simpler. I like the way the nose of the chopper splits apart to reveal the head and chest, while keeping his sensor globe and cannon in useable positions. His shoulders also get some missiles and the chevrons on his shoulder armor look nice. Ah, but unfortunately, he still has a quarter of a helicopter hanging off his back and while some Transformers can pull that off, Grindor’s backpack is just too bulky and obtrusive and the tail drags on the ground behind him.

Grindor’s articulation is pretty good. His head turns, his shoulders have universal movement plus swivels and his elbows and wrists are hinged. His legs have universal movement in the hips and hinged knees. Keep in mind, though, if you leave all the chopper kibble on his back, you won’t get much use out of his leg joints. Blah!

Despite all his flaws, I really don’t hate Grindor. He’s an ok looking figure and I’m probably giving him a bit of a pass because he is a helicopter, afterall. Still, if you’re one of those collectors that tend to be down on the movie figures, Grindor here isn’t going to win you over.

And that wraps it up for Transformers Helicopter Week. I thought I would get a third entry in tonight, looking at Revenge of the Fallen’sBlazemaster, but then I didn’t want to end the week on a down note by looking at such a shitty figure, so maybe I’ll save him for a future Shitty Transformers Week when I’m feeling in a particularly black mood. Anyway, I’ll be back tomorrow with business as usual, meaning I’ll try to slip something else in over the weekend before I get back to looking at more Transformers.