Spotlight: One Of A Kind

More Wednesday market bargain grabbing, as this week I picked up Beast Machines Mega Cheetor, sans tail. For a great number of reasons, this is the first beast-era figure I have ever owned...

It's not hard to see why. He's lanky, doesn't fit in with any other size class, has great difficulty standing and is just kind of garish, to the point that my girlfriend volunteered the word 'crass' to describe him. It's an accurate description as well. That chrome! That neon! That swiping action feature! This guy is such a 90s toy that it hurts.

And you know what? That's what makes him pretty unique amongst my Transformers collection. One of a kind, in fact. 

Welcome to the MEC, Cheetor.

Focus Points

Tier One

My passion for Transformers starts with the ’86 Movie, before anything else. I love a lot of other Transformers media, from the UK comic that was partly responsible for advancing my reading age, through to the humourless but occasionally brilliant Transformers Prime, but in terms of passion… Give me Transformers: The Movie any day.

That pretty much sums up why I want to use the Movie as my focus point – it’s where I care the most deeply about the Robots in Disguise, and it’s what I would most like to see represented on my toy shelf. Besides that, it features a vast but limited pool of characters, which means that I’m not going to break the bank trying to buy them all.

Well, not too much.

I put serious thought into going for a Masterpiece collection, but ultimately the price and the lack of available characters put me off – I know plenty of collectors are still waiting to get a complete Ark crew, so there are no guarantees about ever getting a complete Movie cast anyway. Little by little over the last few years, I have picked up a number of bargains from the Classics/Generations line, a run that continued with last week’s addition of Classics Starscream. This last purchase steeled my resolve to commit to a Classics/Generations TF: TM cast... and brings us to where we are now.

Even with the source media and line sorted, figures still needs to meet a certain criteria to merit inclusion in my collection, and that is where the issue starts to get subjective – I’m not that bothered about getting a load of dead Autobots like Ironhide and Wheeljack, for example; but then no Transformers collection is complete without Optimus Prime.

Because I need to have some clarity regarding what I collect, and because I like making lists, I have split what I consider an essential TF: TM cast into three tiers of priority, starting with a heavy focus on the cast from the third series. As you can see above, for the first ‘wave’ I’m going for a core Autobot cast with a strong focus on the Quintessa faction; firstly because those scenes are unquestionably some of the best in the film, and secondly because it helps to split the cost.

With all that in mind then, what figures make the grade?

Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime

There is only one choice when it comes to the new leader of the Autobots, and that is Classics Rodimus with the Fansproject Protector Armour. I have the Classics base figure already, and the Protector Armour is the highest priority on this high priority list. After all, I still do not actually have a Deluxe scaled Matrix-bearer on the toy shelf.

Kup

For the cranky old timer there is again only one viable option, the Generations Sergeant Kup release from 2011. The secondary market price for this has stayed high, which I imagine is due to the lack of alternatives; there was a Kup released in the TF: Prime line, but the shade of green and comedy face make it a non-starter for the Movie collection.  

Springer

Confession time: Springer was originally on the second tier, before I needed an equal number of ‘bots per wave to make that nice picture up top. He made the jump over Ultra Magnus because I already own him, in the form of the incredible Generations Voyager figure, and because he also serves as a reminder for not jumping on third party offerings before Hasbro have a chance to shine first… because with Springer, they shined very brightly indeed.

Grimlock

Winning the ‘not perfect but close enough’ award, I’ve chosen the Fall of Cybertron Voyager Grimlock from the Generations line, with the Iron Factory Dinoarmor (sic) & Rifle upgrade kit to fix the dinosaur mode’s rather gaping flaws. That the upgrade will also give old Grimmy G1 style wings is an additional bonus, and one that will make the figure even more suited to a TF: TM collection.

Galvatron

Remember what I said about Springer and third party releases? Whilst I would be prepared to wait for a new official release, I have a suspicion that we are not going to see any new Movie commanders until the film’s 30th anniversary in 2016, which is too long to wait for me. It’s a good job then that Unique Toys have already released Mania King, a near perfect take on the crazed Decepticon leader.

Cyclonus

Another character where I have a head start, as I already own the excellent Classics Reveal the Shield version with Nightstick, his Targetmaster partner. From the sublime and intuitive transformation to the imposing stature, fine articulation and impressively effective light piping, this is a great Transformer.

Scourge

To round out Unicron’s army I will need to pick up a Scourge (or several), and there are no better options for that than the 2010 Generations release. I’m less enthused about getting this than I am any of the other seven listed here, but I have read good reviews about this toy, and I know that my Decepticon line up wouldn’t look complete without at least one. Or three.

Wheelie

He’ll get no hating round these parts. I looked at the GDO release, but since I already have Jazz, I would prefer something a bit different to round out the wave. Universe Wheelie fits the bill perfectly, and is also close to being the correct scale, making him a lock for the collection.

There are still a lot more figures to come over the next two waves, with a lot more third party expenditure as well. I will say now that if Hasbro can release a decent, vaguely G1 Voyager Optimus Prime before I have to cough up for the excellent looking Orion by Toy World, I will be very grateful…

That's all from me for now. All credit to Seibertron.com for the majority of toy pictures, and as always, thank you for reading!

Spotlight: Old Friends

Last summer I spent quite a bit of time in Sheffield, and was fortunate enough to get to visit Weston Park Museum with my baby nephew. The museum covered a lot of 20th Century culture, and whilst there I ran into some real old timers keeping guard in a display case...

Robots Half Disguised

This is Inferno pretty much as I remebered him; fistless and awesome. He was actually the best G1 Transformer I owned and accompanied me on many otherwise boring trips away - which is no surprise considering how all-around excellent he is. Optimus Prime (half-transformed on the right there) may be more iconic, but Inferno is the better toy. And after all, didn't ol' Convoy just end up copying the fire truck alt-mode?

Who Will Win?! WHO?!!

There's a teasing glimpse of a certain Horde leader on the left of the top picture, but the main event is right here: peerless good versus evil incarnate for the title of Master of the Universe... It has to be He-Man and Skeletor. 

After Thomas the Tank Engine these are the very first characters I had any conscious engagement with, and both He-Man and She-Ra became huge parts of my childhood experience. Oddly for someone as backwards looking as myself I've not really gotten into any of the modern Eternian revivals, but that's not to say that I haven't enjoyed looking at some of the fantastic 2002 and MOTUC figures in recent years.

It was a real treat to see these fine vintage on display, and if you're in the area I recommend checking the museum out. There's a lot more great stuff to it than just toys as well, but hey - a blog's gotta eat, right?

Thanks for reading!

Spotlight: Generations Orion Pax

"What happened to my lucky face plate?"

I've been getting to grips with the local landscape since moving earlier this year and I recently found a most excellent location for Transformers shots, as demonstrated by Orion Pax here. Next time I go, I'm taking a few more robots with me...

Amid all my G1 Classics/Generations loving the other month, I neglected this guy due to his IDW origins and anachronistic standing. Yeah, he is a little out of place in my collection, but he's definitely still there on merit.

Spotlight: TFA Grimlock

Me Grimlock go alone!

Transformers Animated Voyager Class Grimlock: one of the finest Grimlock toys made this side of G1, in my humble opinion, and a fitting leader for the three TFA Dinobots. 

I have some trouble getting the spring loaded flame sword to work properly but that's a minor concern next to how awesome this figure is - bulk in all the right places, decent articulation and a pretty fun chomping feature. I'm generally not a fan of the Animated aesthetic but this is a solid update to the Dinobot King, and well worth tracking down if you haven't already got one.

Review: Transformers Generations FOC Decepticon Rumble and Ravage

Spies and Saboteurs!

Ravage and Rumble

As 2014 marks the 30^th anniversary of the Transformers, it seems appropriate that my interest in the Robots in Disguise is peaking once again. On a standard trip to B&M (the UK’s premiere discount chain store) I found the Generations Mini-Cassette Decepticons for the bargain price of £3.99, and so took the opportunity to scratch a decades old collecting itch – I now finally own Ravage! This two pack set contains Rumble as well (definitely blue), and two energon-like clear purple containers for their alt-modes.

Shelf Fresh!

Ravage was packed mid-transformation, which isn’t the most flattering look; but thankfully he’s much better when free. The card art continues the attractive Generations branding, with the red and white grid background reminiscent of the old boxes and cartoon intro, and some tasty character artwork. The back of the pack features both robots prominently, and includes a small teaser picture for Generations FOC Soundwave. Other than the standard multilingual warnings, there’s not much else to report.

Data Disk and Case

For both robots the transformation is straightforward. I’ll start with the alt-modes, as they can both be covered in one go. Both robots transform into round data disks, with a spring loaded release button. The disks themselves don’t have fantastic play value, but I suppose the real purpose of this mode is to interact with Soundwave. However when the disks are put into the purple containers, it actually makes quite an attractive little set piece, and I like the idea of being able to walk around with a Decepticon in my pocket that no-one would suspect. Well, other than the fat Decepticon logo giving the game away, of course…

"Destroy what's below and what's above will follow."

I’ll start with Rumble for the robot mode. He reminds me of a Micromaster, in terms of size and shape, but with slightly worse posability. The articulation sacrifices are in service of the transformation, and do lead to some strange positions he can make - his knees bend the wrong way, and he can pull his shoulders back to look like he’s fronting up (not unknown for Rumble). He’ll also do the splits before he can sit down, and so for the most part is best standing there and moving his arms. The thing is though; he doesn’t actually look too bad doing that. The sculpt detail for a figure this size is pretty decent, and the paint apps, on his face and Decepticon symbol in particular, are very fine.

"Today's Autobots are tomorrow's scrap metal."

Ravage is the better of the set though – it’s truly impressive how much more they could make of his ‘robot’ mode than they could with Rumble, as he stretches out just over four inches from head to tail, and then has shoulder and knee joints for each leg. The tail is also posable, although that’s part of the transformation. Ravage has got a good shape to him and wins on play value out of the two for me, but he’s not perfect. Because the bulk of the data disk shape has been stretched so thin, it’s readily apparent quite how hollow Ravage is from the clear daylight you can see when you look at him from most angles. He also suffers from having no neck articulation, leaving him constantly staring at the ground a small distance ahead. The paint apps and sculpted detail are both pretty tidy again however, and for the purpose of this set Ravage does a good job.

Operation: Interference!

Ultimately these toys are accessories to the larger FOC Soundwave figure, and without owning him I can’t really judge them in that context. They do succeed as pocket money Transformer toys however, and when both Rumble and Ravage are stood with their container cases, the pieces look more than the sum of their parts. If I’d paid the £9.99 TRU wanted for these, I would’ve felt mugged – but for less than a fiver, I’d definitely say they’re worth it.

*****

Thanks for reading!