Well wouldn't you know as soon as I play out Sideswipe and Silverstreak I get my super awesome Kmart Minicons in the mail right then! Ah, but those will have to wait, because I have a review to finish! Let's pick it up...
SKALOR
Beast mode- A wierd fish thing. I know it's loosely based on a Coelocanth, but with the lips and the arms and the legs, it's really it's own thing. You would think the mish mash of elements would make it a messy design, but actually, it's great! Truthfully, Skalor was the next least favorite Seacon after Overbite before I got him. His transformation was the same, and he was just a weird fish. How cool could that be? But now that I have him, I love him. I was really pleasantly surprised. The little arms, the thick trunk legs, the stubby tail, the really sharp teeth, it all comes together to create a cool beast mode with lots of character. And talk about detail! From scales all over his back and legs, to the feral way his face is molded, Skalor does not skimp on the details. Despite my personal love for Nautilator, I'd have to say that this fish is definitely the most detailed Seacon, except maybe Snaptrap. And he's got one of the best decos too. He's mostly black and metallic grey, with a few orange spots to brighten it up. His lips and teeth are orange, which is great because it really makes this dangerous feature stand out. And he has black wash on each of the scales on his back, legs and tail! This is a very professional and well done detail, the kind of which makes the Seacons stand out as exclusives. Truly, he was a great surprise and very nice.
Weapon mode- Eh, just the fish laid out, the exact same type as Overbite. It's a little better cause it's not as long, but still pretty meh. Seawing and Tentakill are the best weapons in my opinion, which is a shame because I can't use them. More on that later.
Robot mode- The deco on robot mode gets more black, but remains the metallic grey. We get less orange, but thats ok because it makes the robot look a little more intimidating. He's not as detailed as the other Seacons, but it doesn't hurt him at all because what he lacks in that he makes up for with character. He's stouter then the others except for Seawing (who's TOO stout) and he's extremely broad shouldered. This gives him a very strong, very sturdy look. You can tell he's the gross crank that the tech specs make him out to be. Yet don't say it to his face cause he also looks like he'd be ready to cold cock you at any moment! He's described as an always leaking fish mechanoid, and one would think he would revel in that since he never gets it checked. And his robot mode certainly gives off the feeling that he's a disgusting thug, but still very dangerous. Of course, this isn't to say he isn't detailed at all, because unlike Overbite whose transformation he shares he has the tapered waist look that Seawing has. It's a small detail but makes his shoulders more pronounced, which just enhances the robot's character. In the end, Skalor was an awesome surprise.
TENTAKILL
Beast Mode- If any of the Seacons were silly, he is. But then again, how else would you do a squid as a smaller mold? It's an interesting conundrum, and the design isn't horrible, it just doesn't look as threatening as the others. Maybe it's the legs. Tentakill is basically a squid head with regular legs, and eight tentacles portruding out. They're very stubby tentacles too. Again, I don't want to say the design is bad, it's actually quite innovative considering the mold limitations, I'm just saying it's not as cool or dangerous looking at the others. I don't know, maybe it's the molded mouth instead of the hinged one. One thing going for him, though, I like him better then Overbite simply because he's not boring. He's got lots of molded details on him though, so that's a positive. His mask and scowl are very well done, and he's even got suction cups on his tentacles. The ridges that run all over his body are nice because they're extensive, but they actually hurt the design because it makes him look even more like someone wearing a suit. The deco is a little weird, too. I mean, it's weird in the way because he is the Seacon who has his colors change so drastically in each mode. The black and grey look nice, and blend well with the other Seacons. Not as interesting as Seawing or Snaptrap, but ok. The thing is he shows little of the orange that dominates his robot mode. We get a tiny bit on his head but other then that it's all on his back.
Weapon Mode- I actually really like Tentakill's weapon mode. Why? Because it's actually very disguised from his beast mode. The legs might look silly in beast mode, but folding them back WITH his back tentacles hides his beast mode face, which is a big difference. Too bad, he doesn't work for Piranacon, at least for me. More on that in a few.
Robot mode- Tentakill's robot mode is, like Overbite, nothing special. In fact, it might even be worse because he has the same boxy style but without any chest details. He's the least detailed Seacon in robot mode, only two little things on his chest. Other then that, there's not much. Design wise, he's a box standing on the squid head with the tentacles sticking out of his back. I know I'm trivilizing it, and it's not as bad as I'm making it sound, he just seems a little lackluster when brought up against the others. In terms of deco, he loses almost all of his black and his grey is greatly decreased. We get tons of orange though. It's a big change, it doesn't blend as well as the others. Basically, I like Tentakill better then Overbite, but that's simply because of personal preference. Looking at it with an objective eye, he is actually probably the short end of the stick. Still, he's not bad by any means.
PIRANACON
Ah, here he is. The big guy himself, the combined form. How do I review him? First, how do we put him together? Well, one of the greatest thing about this set is any of the smaller guys can be and arm, leg or gun! So there are tons of variations. So how do I put mine together? Here's my process, going through each Seacon...
Snaptrap- Torso! Can't do anything else with him, duh.
Tentakill- One of my favorite gun modes, as noted above. But I can't use him for a weapon. Why? Because I've tried it, and he's too heavy. One of the reasons I love his gun mode is because it doesn't look like a laid out sea creature. He's compressed, making him look more like a hand gun. The problem lies with the fact that because of that, all his mass is in one spot. Meaning, it's not dispersed. Meaning, he's the heaviest. And the joints of my Piranacon can't hold him up. What's the good of a gun if he can't hold it straight? It's very flimsy with the weight and I feel like I would weaken the joints. So, no gun for him. He could be an arm, but then his tentacles, legs and whole body are up at the shoulder instead of being dispersed along the arm, like Seawing. So...just one choice! A leg he is! He's a good, standard leg not flashy yet the tentacles make it kinda cool.
Seawing- Ah, my other favorite gun mode, maybe even more so then Tentakill, so...What's this? Oh yea, the hole is too big. His weapons won't stay in. Oh well. Guess that fell through. Ok, so leg? No can do...that darn hole. The Piranacon foot doesn't fit snugly and it wobbles around. Shame, because his leg mode is ok, although it doesn't have the visual flair of the tentacles fromTentakill or Nautilator's lobster legs. Ok, so through process of elimination he's an arm. That's fine, he looks very good as an arm, wings give it a lot of character. It seems a little stubby, but it's just as long as the others, so whatever. It looks good.
Nautilator- I hate his gun mode, so it's either an arm or a leg. As an arm, he looks ok, but his claws are large and stick out over his fist. Meaning, holding a weapon is not easy. Impossible for a targetmaster gun. So, I'll make him a leg. That's perfect, the legs sticking out from the back match the tentacles on the other leg giving him a very nice look. Great! Piranacon can now stand. That only leaves...
Skalor and Overbite- With the same design for all three modes, I grouped these two guys together. For my configuration, I'm missing a gun and an arm. Now, I like Skalor better as a gun, but Overbite has a big problem as an arm. The Seawing arm's fist is too far down in the middle of the arm, so it can't hold a targetmaster. Overbite can, except for his large shark-arms. I could take one off, but then I'd have an extra piece and I would hate that. Let's see...if I switch them around, I could actually maneuver Skalor's fish-arm so that Overbite in gun mode would fit. There we go! Sure, I have to use my second least favorite gun mode, but it's still an awesome figure. Anyone wondering about their leg modes, Skalor's is way to wide despite being used on the box, Overbite's is simply alright. I like Tentakill and Nautilator and Seawing better.
So there! He's all put together. And how does he look? Amazing. Dangerous and strangely regal. The colors all blend together wonderfully giving a drastically different look from G1, and in my opinion, a much better one. Much cooler looking, no silly light blue and pink here. All the colors from the Seacons individually are here and laid out great, not one dominating the other. The deco looks great. He's very detailed, all of his individual parts donating to the greater whole. But best of all, his design is great. It's massive, incredibly strong looking, and the nice head sculpt and blades on his chest really make him stand out from all other TF combiners. Only G1 Predacon is cooler looking then him. Maybe RID Rail Racer. Other then that, he's the best looking. He's massive and mechanical, yet with cool elements here and there that make him animalistic and show his underwater nature, like his clawed feet.
Here's my list of my favorite Seacons, for anyone interested-
1. Nautilator
2. Snaptrap
3. Skalor
4. Seawing
5. Tentakill
6. Overbite
The Seacons are an amazing set. It costs a great deal (131 dollars with standard shipping) but it is very cool. You get six great figures with an amazing paint job. Sure, the figures are very simple and from an older era, but they also have tons of play value and there is something to be said about nostalgia. Highly recommended.
Well that's it for now! Look for posts soon about my latest Universe acquisitions! I forgot how much I loved Minicons...
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
My adventures in Seacon-nery...Sean Seacon-nery.
Hey Everyone! I'm finally back with a new post, and the reason it took so long is I was specifically waiting to make a big post about these guys when they came. That's right...it's time for some Seacon goodness as I present my in depth review of the Transformers Collectors Club Seacons!
It took a looong time to get them and quite a few pretty pennies, but let me say now, it was worth it. This set is AWESOME. It's the best of G1, without any of the bad. It's retro without being outdated, with a great deco and lots of playability. They're just plain fun! With all the figures and modes for each, you really get a lot from this set. It really feels like something special, a really nice collectable. Not to mention that I love the colors of these guys, and add to the fact these guys were brought back from cancellation after FOUR years, and you have a great set that any Transformers fan would be proud to have in their collection. Piranacon is massive, impressive, and a very nice piece. Now, as everyone knows I'm not a huge booster of G1, if fact it kind of annoys me sometimes, but I love these guys a lot. Kudos to Fun Publications!
Packaging- This is really nice. The windows let you see inside to the cool beast modes. The eighties style gift box design is very nice and retro, yet the new colors let you know this isn't your father's Seacons...or, rather, the Seacons you used to own. Not to mention that inside is the wonderful foam that I love. The way it hugs my Transformers tight...it feels so safe and nice...anywhoo, I digress, it's a very nice box. But let's get to what really matters! The Bots!
I'll go individually with each of them, their three modes, the decos and just in general talk about them. Now, to be fair, I can't really talk about posability like I usually do because they're G1. As cool as these guys are, they're not posable at all. Only moving arms up and down and opening and closing the beast mouths(a nice touch). That's all. So, they really don't compare to the awesome posability of Animated. That doesn't mean they're bad, of course not, they're just from a time when toy technology was not as advanced. So, it wouldn't be fair to judge them by todays standards.
Same goes for their transformations. All six are INCREDIBLY simplistic, nothing close even to Cybertron Scouts. Again, it's not a negative, they're just from an earlier time and in fact, there is something charming about the basic transformations. However, it's not fair to judge them like comparing Animated Ultra Magnus and Megatron. So, no talking of transformation and posability. What I will be talking about is Design, deco, and and a couple of other things. So, let's get to it!
SNAPTRAP
Beast mode- A killer turtle. It's so unusual it's awesome. He's got massive cannons and massive shells, on small trunks of legs. He's like a tank. I really love the turtle design, especially the head. The ridges on his head and legs give him a really great texture. Not to mention his jaw swings down low so he can live up to his name. Add that to his cannons, and you've got a dangerous reptiles. And as a really neat added effect, moving the switch on his back makes the guns move! It's very nice. Hasbro took what could've been a silly animal and made it really dangerous looking, very appropriate for a Decepticon. He looks even more dangerous when you take his HUGE yellow cannon on his back. It's a little to much yellow for me, but since there is no paint on the weapons and this one has to be big so Piranacon can use it, it's forgivable. Lots of details on him, especially on the mechanical shell. I think the deco is great on Snaptrap, mostly purple with some shiney metallic blue. The cannons and..um...tail blades are yellow. It's a very deep purple, and it works really well wth blue. It's a very dark scheme, but it's broken by the bright yellow. Normally this would be a problem, but since its very symmetrical it compliments Snaptrap's paint instead of detracting from it. All in all, Snaptrap is one dangerous and cool looking beast.
Weapon mode- He doesn't have one...He's the torso.
Robot mode- A great design, I particullary love his head sculpt. Especially the faceplate. It's very Prime-esque, which is cool to me because a cool, regal, Prime-style head wouldn't be expected on the leader of a random DECEPTICON combiner group, much less one that turns into a turtle. I don't know why, but it really gives Snaptrap crediblity as a leader. He's ver imposing, with wide shoulders making him very strong looking. He's very back heavy, what with the hind turtle legs swinging back. That's the only negative of his design. However, by giving him one of his huge Piranacon based weapons, it balances him out, fixing the problem. So THAT's why the gun is so big. He's very immense, and he looks very good, very much like a leader of a team of killers like the Seacons. Color wise-he has much more metallic blue now, with quite a bit of black. The purple is now kept to a minimum. The black looks very nice, i's like a matte black, which looks nice. The colors looked good as a beast, it lookes even better here, much more darker and dangerous. The only snafu here is his hands are bright yellow, which really stick out. I would have preferred they kept that only to the cannons, but it's a small quibble. Lots of nice details on him too, like the designs on his legs and chest. Snaptrap is definatly one cool toy and one of my favorite Seacons.
OVERBITE
Beast mode- He's a shark, with legs and arms. It's an interesting design, and I like it. I mean, it's a little awkward, but obviously he needs legs to make his robot mode arms. And you can't give a shark legs and not arms. So, it makes sense anyway. Honestly, Overbite's the least interestingly designed Seacons to me, but that's only because sharks are kinda overdone. When you think of sea creatures for battle robots to turn into, it goes to the Shark a LOT. Sky Byte, Cybershark, Hammerstrike, to just name a few. It makes sense, sharks are cool, but surrounded by other unique things like a monster lobster just sorta makes Overbite boring to me. It's an ok design, though. He definatly has the darkest scheme of the Seacons, with NO bright colors at all. He's dark purple, metallic blue, and black. It's the best part about him. Even his evil yellow eyes seem darker. Some details that standout for me on Overbite is the metallic blue parts painted on his arms, the yellow eyes, the blue head orb, and the black squares on his back. Even though he's not my Seacon he still looks cool.
Weapon mode- It's basically the shark mode laid out with his head up revealing a gun. It doens't really scream seperate mode to me, but there are things you can do with the arms to make it look more different. It's not as different looking as Tentakill's and Seawing's weapon mode, but it does look better then Nautilator's. So, it's not bad. Not great, but not bad.
Robot mode- Robot mode is pretty standard. Colors carry over from beast mode, although we get less purple and a lot more blue-grey. The design is ok, kind of plain, the shark arms stick out of his feet but I would rather they do that then remove them and possibly loose them. In general, the smaller guys don't have a much detail in robot mode as Snaptrap, but they each have something pretty cool about them, usually the chest. Like Overbite's riged chest. It's neat and it makes him stand out among his comrades. Also worth mentioning here are the headsculpts of the little guys are painted really well and you can make out the detail! I wasn't expecting that, but you can actually make out each of their faces. Anyway, back to Overbite. His robot mode has cool colors if a little one note (mostly blue.) It's got some cool details on his face and chest, but his design is a little bland. So that's sharkboy in a nutshell. Oh, and to be fair, I should mention my Overbite has stress on one of his shoulders. I'm sure it's not widespread, just thought I'd mention it.
NAUTILATOR
Beast mode- Aaaaah Nautilator! I love this guy! He's constantly berated as being the worst Seacon, he was left out of BW II, and he's always been made fun of. I think he's awesome! Especially his beast mode. Like Snaptrap, they took something that could be silly, a lobster, and made it look very dangerous and cool. I love the design of his beast form. The claws are huge and they gave him a distinct head with eyes and a mouth. No huge antenna or bulgy eyes here. He's really detailed as well. From the segmented tail to the very detailed claws, he's got a lot. His head, too, has ridges and looks very armored, and I also very much enjoy the tube and line details that run under his eyes. He's really cool for a giant lobster! I know I'm gushing a little too much about a Seacon limb, but I've always had a thing for unique crazy animals, and here something as silly as a lobster is made to look very menacing. Well, relativly. Menacing for G1. To be fair, the colors are a little monotone on him, almost all white, with orange claws and orange back. However, it's broken up by his purple legs, yellow eyes, and the nice black paint on his head. Oh, and did I mention the tip of his claws are black? It's such a little thing, yet it's so cool that Fun Pub added it. If only it was on the bottom too. Oh well. Have I mentioned I love this guy?
Weapon mode- Ok, ok, for all my loving of his beast mode, Nautilator has the worst weapon mode. As much as I love his handheld weapon and it's three barrels, all you do is outstrech his tail. Honestly, I don't even know if it consitutes as another mode. No, Old Nauts won't be the gun with my Piranacon.
Robot mode- Nautilator's robot mode isn't as cool or special as his beast mode, but it's still pretty nice. The design is pretty standard, two arms and two legs. Unfortunatly, he's very back heavy due to both his legs and claws folding back. In fact, the legs can't even fold all the way back unless you put the claws up so the fit inbetween the lobster appendages. So yes, he's back heavy unless you remove the claws (which I don't want too), but other then that, the design is pretty standard. His chest is fairly detailed though, just like Overbite, and like his shark brethern you can also make out his face clearly. So he does have some nice molded details. As for his deco, he's now mostly orange, but he still retains white on his legs. The purple remains on his legs and it's there on his head. The yellow moves from his eyes to his face. So, the deco doesn't change much. It's still a little monochramatic, but I enjoy it. So, long story short, I love his beast mode, his weapon mode is dumb, and his robot mode is ok. Something else odd about his robot mode...the head seems to be farther back then it should be. Eh probably something that has to do with combining. Like I was saying his robot mode is a little average but still awesome enough to make him my favorite Seacon.
SEAWING
Beast mode- Here, we get the first manta ray, Depth Charge's ancestor. And despite having legs which is a little wierd, he looks sooooo cool. Design wise, he's very technological with lots of awesome details. The square in his face looks odd, but Seawing makes up for it with his great deco. His wings are painted with both orange and yellow, but they are washed together to create a very nice effect. It's things like that which make the Seacons a really special collectors set. And each of the molded ridges and effects on his wings are painted black, making a great contrasti. His body is mostly white with a black tail, and the head is black which makes his yellow eyes stand out great. I just realized that all the Seacons have yellow eyes...that's great...but, back to the reivew, Seawing is designed very well. The only problem being his square face. But the really nice color scheme makes up for it. And if you want detail, look no farther then the ones etched right into his wings! Awesome!
Weapon mode- Actually, Seawing has on of the best weapon modes. His hands guns have an interesting design, which helps out his targetmaster mode. The upturned wings, the manta head turned around, those all contribute to make this form look less like an animal streched out and more like an actual weapon. Unfortunatly, with MY Seawing the hole on the front is to big to fit the guns snugly. So, that elminates HIM as a weapon in my Piranacon.
Robot Mode- With an intriguing beast mode, has a very stout robot mode. He's very short, the shortest of them all. He's not as detailed as Nautilator or Overbite, although he does slim down in the middle, giving him more of a chest effect. Meaning, whereas Overbite and Nautilator have square bodies which have the legs coming out of them, Seawing's body curves down, and THEN meets his legs. Not saying that one or the other is better, just pointing out how it makes Seawing different from his comrades. Conversly, a negative detail of his is that the ray jaw hangs in his crotch. Seawing does look cool with his wings out strectched, and that way you can move the tail all the way back and he isn't back heavy that way. But, it's weird, I don't think that's how it's supposed to go. I think you're supposed to put the wings all the way back, which makes him back heavy and the tail can't go all the way down. But neverminding that, despite his jaw crocth and his shortness, the uniqueness of his robot mode makes him stand out. The manta ray head as his legs is a nice visual design, and something none of the other Seacons have. So for Seawing, he's got a unique if flawed robot mode, a nice beast mode and a cool weapon mode. It's only his few flaws (aforementioned shortness, square manta head, crotch jaw) that make him behind Nautilator, Skalor and Snaptrap in my Seacon list.
Whew! I've gone pretty indepth on those four and I'm not done yet! Still more Seacon fun to come, but seeing as I've been writing a while and Silverstreak and Sideswipe literally just arrived in the mail, I'm gonna take a break and save Skalor, Tentakill and Piranacon himself for another blog post. Keep an eye out for part 2!
It took a looong time to get them and quite a few pretty pennies, but let me say now, it was worth it. This set is AWESOME. It's the best of G1, without any of the bad. It's retro without being outdated, with a great deco and lots of playability. They're just plain fun! With all the figures and modes for each, you really get a lot from this set. It really feels like something special, a really nice collectable. Not to mention that I love the colors of these guys, and add to the fact these guys were brought back from cancellation after FOUR years, and you have a great set that any Transformers fan would be proud to have in their collection. Piranacon is massive, impressive, and a very nice piece. Now, as everyone knows I'm not a huge booster of G1, if fact it kind of annoys me sometimes, but I love these guys a lot. Kudos to Fun Publications!
Packaging- This is really nice. The windows let you see inside to the cool beast modes. The eighties style gift box design is very nice and retro, yet the new colors let you know this isn't your father's Seacons...or, rather, the Seacons you used to own. Not to mention that inside is the wonderful foam that I love. The way it hugs my Transformers tight...it feels so safe and nice...anywhoo, I digress, it's a very nice box. But let's get to what really matters! The Bots!
I'll go individually with each of them, their three modes, the decos and just in general talk about them. Now, to be fair, I can't really talk about posability like I usually do because they're G1. As cool as these guys are, they're not posable at all. Only moving arms up and down and opening and closing the beast mouths(a nice touch). That's all. So, they really don't compare to the awesome posability of Animated. That doesn't mean they're bad, of course not, they're just from a time when toy technology was not as advanced. So, it wouldn't be fair to judge them by todays standards.
Same goes for their transformations. All six are INCREDIBLY simplistic, nothing close even to Cybertron Scouts. Again, it's not a negative, they're just from an earlier time and in fact, there is something charming about the basic transformations. However, it's not fair to judge them like comparing Animated Ultra Magnus and Megatron. So, no talking of transformation and posability. What I will be talking about is Design, deco, and and a couple of other things. So, let's get to it!
SNAPTRAP
Beast mode- A killer turtle. It's so unusual it's awesome. He's got massive cannons and massive shells, on small trunks of legs. He's like a tank. I really love the turtle design, especially the head. The ridges on his head and legs give him a really great texture. Not to mention his jaw swings down low so he can live up to his name. Add that to his cannons, and you've got a dangerous reptiles. And as a really neat added effect, moving the switch on his back makes the guns move! It's very nice. Hasbro took what could've been a silly animal and made it really dangerous looking, very appropriate for a Decepticon. He looks even more dangerous when you take his HUGE yellow cannon on his back. It's a little to much yellow for me, but since there is no paint on the weapons and this one has to be big so Piranacon can use it, it's forgivable. Lots of details on him, especially on the mechanical shell. I think the deco is great on Snaptrap, mostly purple with some shiney metallic blue. The cannons and..um...tail blades are yellow. It's a very deep purple, and it works really well wth blue. It's a very dark scheme, but it's broken by the bright yellow. Normally this would be a problem, but since its very symmetrical it compliments Snaptrap's paint instead of detracting from it. All in all, Snaptrap is one dangerous and cool looking beast.
Weapon mode- He doesn't have one...He's the torso.
Robot mode- A great design, I particullary love his head sculpt. Especially the faceplate. It's very Prime-esque, which is cool to me because a cool, regal, Prime-style head wouldn't be expected on the leader of a random DECEPTICON combiner group, much less one that turns into a turtle. I don't know why, but it really gives Snaptrap crediblity as a leader. He's ver imposing, with wide shoulders making him very strong looking. He's very back heavy, what with the hind turtle legs swinging back. That's the only negative of his design. However, by giving him one of his huge Piranacon based weapons, it balances him out, fixing the problem. So THAT's why the gun is so big. He's very immense, and he looks very good, very much like a leader of a team of killers like the Seacons. Color wise-he has much more metallic blue now, with quite a bit of black. The purple is now kept to a minimum. The black looks very nice, i's like a matte black, which looks nice. The colors looked good as a beast, it lookes even better here, much more darker and dangerous. The only snafu here is his hands are bright yellow, which really stick out. I would have preferred they kept that only to the cannons, but it's a small quibble. Lots of nice details on him too, like the designs on his legs and chest. Snaptrap is definatly one cool toy and one of my favorite Seacons.
OVERBITE
Beast mode- He's a shark, with legs and arms. It's an interesting design, and I like it. I mean, it's a little awkward, but obviously he needs legs to make his robot mode arms. And you can't give a shark legs and not arms. So, it makes sense anyway. Honestly, Overbite's the least interestingly designed Seacons to me, but that's only because sharks are kinda overdone. When you think of sea creatures for battle robots to turn into, it goes to the Shark a LOT. Sky Byte, Cybershark, Hammerstrike, to just name a few. It makes sense, sharks are cool, but surrounded by other unique things like a monster lobster just sorta makes Overbite boring to me. It's an ok design, though. He definatly has the darkest scheme of the Seacons, with NO bright colors at all. He's dark purple, metallic blue, and black. It's the best part about him. Even his evil yellow eyes seem darker. Some details that standout for me on Overbite is the metallic blue parts painted on his arms, the yellow eyes, the blue head orb, and the black squares on his back. Even though he's not my Seacon he still looks cool.
Weapon mode- It's basically the shark mode laid out with his head up revealing a gun. It doens't really scream seperate mode to me, but there are things you can do with the arms to make it look more different. It's not as different looking as Tentakill's and Seawing's weapon mode, but it does look better then Nautilator's. So, it's not bad. Not great, but not bad.
Robot mode- Robot mode is pretty standard. Colors carry over from beast mode, although we get less purple and a lot more blue-grey. The design is ok, kind of plain, the shark arms stick out of his feet but I would rather they do that then remove them and possibly loose them. In general, the smaller guys don't have a much detail in robot mode as Snaptrap, but they each have something pretty cool about them, usually the chest. Like Overbite's riged chest. It's neat and it makes him stand out among his comrades. Also worth mentioning here are the headsculpts of the little guys are painted really well and you can make out the detail! I wasn't expecting that, but you can actually make out each of their faces. Anyway, back to Overbite. His robot mode has cool colors if a little one note (mostly blue.) It's got some cool details on his face and chest, but his design is a little bland. So that's sharkboy in a nutshell. Oh, and to be fair, I should mention my Overbite has stress on one of his shoulders. I'm sure it's not widespread, just thought I'd mention it.
NAUTILATOR
Beast mode- Aaaaah Nautilator! I love this guy! He's constantly berated as being the worst Seacon, he was left out of BW II, and he's always been made fun of. I think he's awesome! Especially his beast mode. Like Snaptrap, they took something that could be silly, a lobster, and made it look very dangerous and cool. I love the design of his beast form. The claws are huge and they gave him a distinct head with eyes and a mouth. No huge antenna or bulgy eyes here. He's really detailed as well. From the segmented tail to the very detailed claws, he's got a lot. His head, too, has ridges and looks very armored, and I also very much enjoy the tube and line details that run under his eyes. He's really cool for a giant lobster! I know I'm gushing a little too much about a Seacon limb, but I've always had a thing for unique crazy animals, and here something as silly as a lobster is made to look very menacing. Well, relativly. Menacing for G1. To be fair, the colors are a little monotone on him, almost all white, with orange claws and orange back. However, it's broken up by his purple legs, yellow eyes, and the nice black paint on his head. Oh, and did I mention the tip of his claws are black? It's such a little thing, yet it's so cool that Fun Pub added it. If only it was on the bottom too. Oh well. Have I mentioned I love this guy?
Weapon mode- Ok, ok, for all my loving of his beast mode, Nautilator has the worst weapon mode. As much as I love his handheld weapon and it's three barrels, all you do is outstrech his tail. Honestly, I don't even know if it consitutes as another mode. No, Old Nauts won't be the gun with my Piranacon.
Robot mode- Nautilator's robot mode isn't as cool or special as his beast mode, but it's still pretty nice. The design is pretty standard, two arms and two legs. Unfortunatly, he's very back heavy due to both his legs and claws folding back. In fact, the legs can't even fold all the way back unless you put the claws up so the fit inbetween the lobster appendages. So yes, he's back heavy unless you remove the claws (which I don't want too), but other then that, the design is pretty standard. His chest is fairly detailed though, just like Overbite, and like his shark brethern you can also make out his face clearly. So he does have some nice molded details. As for his deco, he's now mostly orange, but he still retains white on his legs. The purple remains on his legs and it's there on his head. The yellow moves from his eyes to his face. So, the deco doesn't change much. It's still a little monochramatic, but I enjoy it. So, long story short, I love his beast mode, his weapon mode is dumb, and his robot mode is ok. Something else odd about his robot mode...the head seems to be farther back then it should be. Eh probably something that has to do with combining. Like I was saying his robot mode is a little average but still awesome enough to make him my favorite Seacon.
SEAWING
Beast mode- Here, we get the first manta ray, Depth Charge's ancestor. And despite having legs which is a little wierd, he looks sooooo cool. Design wise, he's very technological with lots of awesome details. The square in his face looks odd, but Seawing makes up for it with his great deco. His wings are painted with both orange and yellow, but they are washed together to create a very nice effect. It's things like that which make the Seacons a really special collectors set. And each of the molded ridges and effects on his wings are painted black, making a great contrasti. His body is mostly white with a black tail, and the head is black which makes his yellow eyes stand out great. I just realized that all the Seacons have yellow eyes...that's great...but, back to the reivew, Seawing is designed very well. The only problem being his square face. But the really nice color scheme makes up for it. And if you want detail, look no farther then the ones etched right into his wings! Awesome!
Weapon mode- Actually, Seawing has on of the best weapon modes. His hands guns have an interesting design, which helps out his targetmaster mode. The upturned wings, the manta head turned around, those all contribute to make this form look less like an animal streched out and more like an actual weapon. Unfortunatly, with MY Seawing the hole on the front is to big to fit the guns snugly. So, that elminates HIM as a weapon in my Piranacon.
Robot Mode- With an intriguing beast mode, has a very stout robot mode. He's very short, the shortest of them all. He's not as detailed as Nautilator or Overbite, although he does slim down in the middle, giving him more of a chest effect. Meaning, whereas Overbite and Nautilator have square bodies which have the legs coming out of them, Seawing's body curves down, and THEN meets his legs. Not saying that one or the other is better, just pointing out how it makes Seawing different from his comrades. Conversly, a negative detail of his is that the ray jaw hangs in his crotch. Seawing does look cool with his wings out strectched, and that way you can move the tail all the way back and he isn't back heavy that way. But, it's weird, I don't think that's how it's supposed to go. I think you're supposed to put the wings all the way back, which makes him back heavy and the tail can't go all the way down. But neverminding that, despite his jaw crocth and his shortness, the uniqueness of his robot mode makes him stand out. The manta ray head as his legs is a nice visual design, and something none of the other Seacons have. So for Seawing, he's got a unique if flawed robot mode, a nice beast mode and a cool weapon mode. It's only his few flaws (aforementioned shortness, square manta head, crotch jaw) that make him behind Nautilator, Skalor and Snaptrap in my Seacon list.
Whew! I've gone pretty indepth on those four and I'm not done yet! Still more Seacon fun to come, but seeing as I've been writing a while and Silverstreak and Sideswipe literally just arrived in the mail, I'm gonna take a break and save Skalor, Tentakill and Piranacon himself for another blog post. Keep an eye out for part 2!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Ultra Magnus
Guess what I got in the mail a little while ago? What with all the sightings today I thought it was a good time to post my blog about the one and only Animated Ultra Magnus. I got mine about a week ago thanks to Hasbrotoyshop.com, an underrated tool. So how is the big guy? Well, read on...
Ultra Magnus is an awesome toy. However, I almost ended up hating him. Why? Well, before I get on with the rest of my review I have to mention what is wrong with MY Magnus, personally. He's got a sound effect in vehicle mode that's pretty annoying, but the problem is that on my figure the button is stuck. When he's not in robot mode, it has the potential to play non stop. In fact, in happens to play evey move I make in his Transformation. It's reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally annoying. I just needed to mention that in case anyone else has this problem. Beware Magnus buyers! I'm sure it's just my figure but something that is out there. If anyone has a fix, let me know. Now, onto the rest of the review-
Vehicle mode- Magnus' vehicle is pretty cool, very tough looking. It's incredibly well armed, to boot. Like, incredibly. Two giant cannons, guns that pop out of his cannons, two gattling guns in the bumper, and two sets of three barreled cannons on hte front of the vehicle. Add that to his armor he looks like he could drive into Con territory and take them all out himself. It carries on to robot mode as well. The only two things negative about the vehicle mode are this. The two flaps on the rear of his vehicle mode don't go flush, and thus he's got a wierd slanty thing going on back there. It looks wierd. I mean, at least the lights are angled so it fits, but I still think it looks wierd. The other negative also has to do with his look, and that's the ambiguity of the vehicle mode. What is it? A carrier? A truck? It's blocky in the front and curved in the back. It's not a huge complaint, but it does stick out in my opinion. As you can see, neither of those two things are big at all, so Magnus' vehicle mode is pretty damn awesome. It's really well detailed, including the bolts on the front of the cab, which I love. Hammer storage is a little weak, but you can even hold an Autobot on him if you pose the cannons back. His vehicle mode isn't as perfect as Megatron's, but it's still really really nice. Big, bulky and tough, like him.
Transformation- Here's where Magnus comes ahead of Megs. It's kinda complicated, bu its much more thorough and you feel like you're getting more for you money then Megs' simple one. The wheels fold in and make his legs thick and stable. It's innovative, and I just love the transformation. There's one huge problem, but it might just be my figure in particular. His front end of his cab become his shoulders and the fold up on hinges. But with mine, the hinges are so tight that I have to wrestle the hell out of them. I feel like I'm gonna rip his complex arm hinges apart, and the ones on my Magnus already feel a little weak. So, that makes me a little nervous. Transform with care.
Robot mode- Man does this design look amazing. I love it, it's so imposing and tough. It's incredibly show accurate too, a feat that never ceases to amaze me with these animated toys. He's got great contours and details, and despite being very regal and top heavy, his slick and wide legs keep him stable no matter what poses you put him in. Which leads me to my next point, he's very articulated. You can hit a lot of cool poses with Magnus. This leads me to the ONLY negative of his robot mode. I mean, sure, his wide shoulders interfere with arm posing a little bit but that's not nearly as distracting or bothersome to me as this. When you pose his arms upwards, the shoulders, leave their sockets. He can have his shoulders straight on, and then up one click, but after that it just looks wierd. His shoulders leave their sockets!!! I mean, come on! But then, if you think about it, it was probably a design thing that need to get done in order to make him as show accurate as he is. Oh well. Magnus is also incredibly well armed, as ALL his weapons from vehicle mode. And of course, let's not forget...THE HAMMER OF DOOM! Yes, it's here folks, and it's awesome. The handle is not as long as it should be, but minor complaunt. He's got a freaking hammer!!!
Conclusion-
Negatives- Wierd flaps in vehicle mode
Ambiguous vehicle mode
Shoulders in robot mode
Positives- Tough looking vehicle mode
Badass looking robot mode, tough and regal looking
Tons of weaponry
Posability and detailing
He's awesome
Basically, Ultra Magnus is an awesome figure, and a definate must buy. He's great. Go out and buy him now!
Ultra Magnus is an awesome toy. However, I almost ended up hating him. Why? Well, before I get on with the rest of my review I have to mention what is wrong with MY Magnus, personally. He's got a sound effect in vehicle mode that's pretty annoying, but the problem is that on my figure the button is stuck. When he's not in robot mode, it has the potential to play non stop. In fact, in happens to play evey move I make in his Transformation. It's reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally annoying. I just needed to mention that in case anyone else has this problem. Beware Magnus buyers! I'm sure it's just my figure but something that is out there. If anyone has a fix, let me know. Now, onto the rest of the review-
Vehicle mode- Magnus' vehicle is pretty cool, very tough looking. It's incredibly well armed, to boot. Like, incredibly. Two giant cannons, guns that pop out of his cannons, two gattling guns in the bumper, and two sets of three barreled cannons on hte front of the vehicle. Add that to his armor he looks like he could drive into Con territory and take them all out himself. It carries on to robot mode as well. The only two things negative about the vehicle mode are this. The two flaps on the rear of his vehicle mode don't go flush, and thus he's got a wierd slanty thing going on back there. It looks wierd. I mean, at least the lights are angled so it fits, but I still think it looks wierd. The other negative also has to do with his look, and that's the ambiguity of the vehicle mode. What is it? A carrier? A truck? It's blocky in the front and curved in the back. It's not a huge complaint, but it does stick out in my opinion. As you can see, neither of those two things are big at all, so Magnus' vehicle mode is pretty damn awesome. It's really well detailed, including the bolts on the front of the cab, which I love. Hammer storage is a little weak, but you can even hold an Autobot on him if you pose the cannons back. His vehicle mode isn't as perfect as Megatron's, but it's still really really nice. Big, bulky and tough, like him.
Transformation- Here's where Magnus comes ahead of Megs. It's kinda complicated, bu its much more thorough and you feel like you're getting more for you money then Megs' simple one. The wheels fold in and make his legs thick and stable. It's innovative, and I just love the transformation. There's one huge problem, but it might just be my figure in particular. His front end of his cab become his shoulders and the fold up on hinges. But with mine, the hinges are so tight that I have to wrestle the hell out of them. I feel like I'm gonna rip his complex arm hinges apart, and the ones on my Magnus already feel a little weak. So, that makes me a little nervous. Transform with care.
Robot mode- Man does this design look amazing. I love it, it's so imposing and tough. It's incredibly show accurate too, a feat that never ceases to amaze me with these animated toys. He's got great contours and details, and despite being very regal and top heavy, his slick and wide legs keep him stable no matter what poses you put him in. Which leads me to my next point, he's very articulated. You can hit a lot of cool poses with Magnus. This leads me to the ONLY negative of his robot mode. I mean, sure, his wide shoulders interfere with arm posing a little bit but that's not nearly as distracting or bothersome to me as this. When you pose his arms upwards, the shoulders, leave their sockets. He can have his shoulders straight on, and then up one click, but after that it just looks wierd. His shoulders leave their sockets!!! I mean, come on! But then, if you think about it, it was probably a design thing that need to get done in order to make him as show accurate as he is. Oh well. Magnus is also incredibly well armed, as ALL his weapons from vehicle mode. And of course, let's not forget...THE HAMMER OF DOOM! Yes, it's here folks, and it's awesome. The handle is not as long as it should be, but minor complaunt. He's got a freaking hammer!!!
Conclusion-
Negatives- Wierd flaps in vehicle mode
Ambiguous vehicle mode
Shoulders in robot mode
Positives- Tough looking vehicle mode
Badass looking robot mode, tough and regal looking
Tons of weaponry
Posability and detailing
He's awesome
Basically, Ultra Magnus is an awesome figure, and a definate must buy. He's great. Go out and buy him now!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Weighing in on the Mouseformer!
Time for me to weigh in on the Disney Transformer issue that popped up a while ago.
I think this is an awesome idea. I am buying this.
I've been a huge Disney fan all my life and Disney World (where hopefully this will be an exclusive) is my favorite place to be on Earth. So combining my two passions in life is a no brainer.
And of course this has been met with the same large amounts of whining and moaning as several other things that have happened in Transformers in recent years.
Not everyone thinks this is the end of the world. I mean, come on, guys, calm down it's not like this is going to be a whole line. It's not, it doesn't make sense and wouldn't sell well. Not to mention that it's meant for Japan. Believe or not, people like Disney, especially in Japan. There's a lot of cool Disney merchandise in Japan only. Not to mention, Japan has done a lot stranger things Cough-kiss players-cough.
And look at Kingdom Hearts! Mass together Square and Disney and you get one of the best games ever!!!
Basically, what I'm saying is, chill out people. Let's wait and see what it looks like. And keep in mind some people, like me are in favor of this. I'm sorry if you're reading this and you're one of those people who are outraged, but I needed to put my opinion out there. I think it's great!
Hopefully it won't cost an arm and a leg to import.
I think this is an awesome idea. I am buying this.
I've been a huge Disney fan all my life and Disney World (where hopefully this will be an exclusive) is my favorite place to be on Earth. So combining my two passions in life is a no brainer.
And of course this has been met with the same large amounts of whining and moaning as several other things that have happened in Transformers in recent years.
Not everyone thinks this is the end of the world. I mean, come on, guys, calm down it's not like this is going to be a whole line. It's not, it doesn't make sense and wouldn't sell well. Not to mention that it's meant for Japan. Believe or not, people like Disney, especially in Japan. There's a lot of cool Disney merchandise in Japan only. Not to mention, Japan has done a lot stranger things Cough-kiss players-cough.
And look at Kingdom Hearts! Mass together Square and Disney and you get one of the best games ever!!!
Basically, what I'm saying is, chill out people. Let's wait and see what it looks like. And keep in mind some people, like me are in favor of this. I'm sorry if you're reading this and you're one of those people who are outraged, but I needed to put my opinion out there. I think it's great!
Hopefully it won't cost an arm and a leg to import.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Say what you want, Walmart has some nice exclusives...
I really love these repaint movie exclusives. I loved Cybertron, (Well, most of it) so the molds are already pretty aces in my book. I have four out of the seven releases, and I love em all.
Big Daddy- WHAT? Of all the G1 names to revive, you revive that one? Hilarious. An awesome nod to collectors, who are the only people who get the inside joke. Add that to the great paint scheme and cool figure and you have a must buy. Anyone who listened to Decepticast knows my love for black repaints, and Big Daddy adds to that by having badass flames. A great obscure homage that I'm very glad to have in my collection. It's just a nice figure. No wonder on his first release he flew out of Walmarts almost as fast as Masterpiece screamers.
Grindcore- Cybertron Landmine was a great figure that deserved a lot more play. In a line that was a large part repaints, he was never repainted once. Thank goodness he became a Botcon exclusive, he deserved it. So, I was very happy to see him here. With a cool brand new name to boot! "Grindcore"...sounds awesome doesn't it? Sure, the paint scheme is a little bland but it is Constructicon-ny, right? Ah, who cares about the boring green. The mold is great, I love the way his head is painted and he's an exclusive. Grindcore FTW!
Crankcase- Personally, I loved the Red Alert mold. Sure, it was a little short but he's incredibly posable, detailed and has a lot of personality what with his tools and robo cop head and flip up cannons. Not to mention the amazing Cannonball repaint immidiately won me over. Now THAT was a cool toy. When this was announced at Botcon 08, I thought it was great. Not only did have another great variation of Decepticon symbol (The Hazmat symbol, just like Barricade's amazing police one) but the rest of the deco was very through. He was also a great modern homage. I never thought of Red Alert and the Triggercon together, but it really works. Plus you can always never have too many Decepticons. The deco is mostly a great navy blue, combined with some black and metallics that looks really nice. And there's JUST enough yellow to compliment the paint and add the Haz-mat nature. GREAT REDECO, highly recommended.
Breakaway- He wasn't originally on my list, given that I already own three of this mold and despite the cool car mode and robot design it's not that posable. However, my girlfriend really liked him, and as I looked into him I was really impressed how much he actually does look like Getaway, to the point where i can't help but call him that sometimes. Vehicle mode is actually pretty snazzy with the white and the red tint on the windows. Robot mode, despite Cybertron's cool design suffers from not a lot of paint apps unfortunately. Don't get me wrong, it's not terrible but lacks the polish of Crankcase. Mine's a little loose too. Still, I don't regret the purchase, it's a cool homage but, frankly, no one is as cool as Big Daddy.
What about the other three?
Jolt- Eh, actually the color scheme is pretty cool but after going to Botcon and getting Jazz and Ricochet in addition to Crosswise and Smokescreen, I didn't need another one.
Divebomb- UGGGGH. Worst mold in the entire line with a puke yellow brown poo splotched paint scheme. Thankfully he was killed in Reign of Starscream.
Fracture- Since when does everyone love Gobots. The paint scheme is ok but that Mirage mold is boring. Not to mention he's a pretty wierd female. AND IT'S A GOBOT PEOPLE! Sheesh.
All in all, Walmart has made some awesome exclusives. I was more excited for those repaints then some of the new Universe molds. Call me crazy, but I'll take Crankcase over that new Ironhide anyday. Ratchet might be a different story...but that's not the point. They're awesome. Grab them before they're gone. Big Daddy's going again, and Fracture (For who knows why) is going fast. Here's my list:
1. Big Daddy
2. Crankcase
3. Grindcore
4. Breakaway
5. Fracture
6. Jolt
7. Divebomb
I know I don't have three of them but I have the molds and have seen the color schemes so I thought it was ok.
Big Daddy- WHAT? Of all the G1 names to revive, you revive that one? Hilarious. An awesome nod to collectors, who are the only people who get the inside joke. Add that to the great paint scheme and cool figure and you have a must buy. Anyone who listened to Decepticast knows my love for black repaints, and Big Daddy adds to that by having badass flames. A great obscure homage that I'm very glad to have in my collection. It's just a nice figure. No wonder on his first release he flew out of Walmarts almost as fast as Masterpiece screamers.
Grindcore- Cybertron Landmine was a great figure that deserved a lot more play. In a line that was a large part repaints, he was never repainted once. Thank goodness he became a Botcon exclusive, he deserved it. So, I was very happy to see him here. With a cool brand new name to boot! "Grindcore"...sounds awesome doesn't it? Sure, the paint scheme is a little bland but it is Constructicon-ny, right? Ah, who cares about the boring green. The mold is great, I love the way his head is painted and he's an exclusive. Grindcore FTW!
Crankcase- Personally, I loved the Red Alert mold. Sure, it was a little short but he's incredibly posable, detailed and has a lot of personality what with his tools and robo cop head and flip up cannons. Not to mention the amazing Cannonball repaint immidiately won me over. Now THAT was a cool toy. When this was announced at Botcon 08, I thought it was great. Not only did have another great variation of Decepticon symbol (The Hazmat symbol, just like Barricade's amazing police one) but the rest of the deco was very through. He was also a great modern homage. I never thought of Red Alert and the Triggercon together, but it really works. Plus you can always never have too many Decepticons. The deco is mostly a great navy blue, combined with some black and metallics that looks really nice. And there's JUST enough yellow to compliment the paint and add the Haz-mat nature. GREAT REDECO, highly recommended.
Breakaway- He wasn't originally on my list, given that I already own three of this mold and despite the cool car mode and robot design it's not that posable. However, my girlfriend really liked him, and as I looked into him I was really impressed how much he actually does look like Getaway, to the point where i can't help but call him that sometimes. Vehicle mode is actually pretty snazzy with the white and the red tint on the windows. Robot mode, despite Cybertron's cool design suffers from not a lot of paint apps unfortunately. Don't get me wrong, it's not terrible but lacks the polish of Crankcase. Mine's a little loose too. Still, I don't regret the purchase, it's a cool homage but, frankly, no one is as cool as Big Daddy.
What about the other three?
Jolt- Eh, actually the color scheme is pretty cool but after going to Botcon and getting Jazz and Ricochet in addition to Crosswise and Smokescreen, I didn't need another one.
Divebomb- UGGGGH. Worst mold in the entire line with a puke yellow brown poo splotched paint scheme. Thankfully he was killed in Reign of Starscream.
Fracture- Since when does everyone love Gobots. The paint scheme is ok but that Mirage mold is boring. Not to mention he's a pretty wierd female. AND IT'S A GOBOT PEOPLE! Sheesh.
All in all, Walmart has made some awesome exclusives. I was more excited for those repaints then some of the new Universe molds. Call me crazy, but I'll take Crankcase over that new Ironhide anyday. Ratchet might be a different story...but that's not the point. They're awesome. Grab them before they're gone. Big Daddy's going again, and Fracture (For who knows why) is going fast. Here's my list:
1. Big Daddy
2. Crankcase
3. Grindcore
4. Breakaway
5. Fracture
6. Jolt
7. Divebomb
I know I don't have three of them but I have the molds and have seen the color schemes so I thought it was ok.
Friday, September 12, 2008
TITANIUM ADVENTURE
My latest TF purchase (aside from the awesome Swoop) comes in the form of War Within Grimlock, the last of the Titanium line with Prowl and a Toys R Us Exclusive. I have to say, I was never in love with the Titanium line, but this guy is actually pretty damn cool. I wasn't expecting much, but he surprised me. But first, a little history of the six inch Titanium line and me:
When this was announced, I thought it was pretty cool but wasn't terribly interested in it. Sure, it seemed like a great idea as a side line for collectors, but none of the first wave grabbed me. I'd have to wait and see...
First wave: WW Optimus Prime and GIJOE Megatron. Prime was actually pretty cool looking, and I liked that Hasbro was branching into comic figures. Still...he didn't catch my attention long enough for me to spend twenty bucks on, especially since I was knee deep into being a completest for Cybertron (A line that I really, really liked.) So, unfortunately, Prime had to pass for Scott to save a little dough. And the Megatron? Ugh. What a boring robot mode, boring tank mode, and a transformation that I could work out just by looking at the vehicle mode. I mean, I know that the Titaniums had simple transformations, but this was ridiculous. I mean, you could see his crotch on the front of the tank. PASS. Things were not boding well. But then, a ray of light appeared....
Second wave: WW Jetfire and WW Thundercracker. Now we're talking. WW done right. Prime's coolness, but with more interesting designs and different characters. Thundercracker BEFORE Starscream? Sign me up! TC became the first purchase from this line. He's pretty cool, shoulders are a bit weak, but other wise a great figure. It really showed me what this line could do. Jetfire was nice too, but a little too skinny, and like I said earlier, my cash was almost all in Cybertron.
Third wave: Optimal Optimus and Scourge. The awesomeness continued with this wave. I'm not a huge G1 booster and I especially hate the movie designs. So Scourge was a definate pass for me, but even I could admit it was pretty nice. But Optimal Optimus? From Beast Wars, one of my favorite TF eras? I was actually excited for this toy. Not to mention that the actual Optimal Optimus figure was getting some weak joints due to all the excessive play from my youth. So I was eager for a new one. And it was great, the figure was a perfect scaled down model, and had metal in all the right places. Complete with show accurate chest guns! He's my favorite of this line to this day.
Fourth Wave: Rodimus and Soundwave. What went wrong here? Rodimus? Rodimus sucks. He sucked in the cartoon, his original toy sucked, why would we want another of him? Granted, this toy was the best he ever looked, but my hatred for all things Hot Rod and Rodimus drove me away from him, which I was A-Ok with. I did buy Soundwave though. I may not love G1 more then other Transformers series (don't get me wrong, I like the series, just not as much the movie-verse, animated-verse, and others) but it's impossible to not love Soundwave. He's awesome, pure and simple. And as I never had any Soundwave toy, and Classics Soundwave was not on the horizon yet, I bought him. And truthfully, he's not terrible, but the low crotch is definitely weird and my Soundwave is the definition of floppy. So he was good, posable for a Titanium, but not great, because he couldn't stand.
Fifth Wave: WW Starscream and RID Optimus Prime. Ah, the first repaint. Seeing as I like Thundercracker better then Screamer and I already owned the mold, I passed. And as for Prime, it was cool that they brought his trailer into the transformation, but the mold didn't look cool enough to take my money. Especially after Floppywave.
But then...Titaniums went away. They completely dried up. No new releases. Once they sold, they were nary to be found. Until some weird shipping schedule shipped out wave six and wave EIGHT into stores. A lot, actually.
Wave Six: Cheetor and The Fallen. New molds! Hurrah! Actually, for all the bad press surrounding Beast Machines, I actually kinda liked parts of it. Sure, a bunch a Cheetors were churned out, but hey, why not one more? It's not as good as Night Slash Cheetor but the figure was actually nice. The Fallen was an awesome choice, and even though the vehicle mode was a little weak, the robot mode had a lot of great details. Both of these interested me enough to buy.
Wave Eight: WW Sunstorm and WW Magnus. Sunstorm and not Skywarp? Um, ok, whatever. Not a bad looking repaint but the seeker mold was not good enough to warrant a second purchase having already passed on Screamer. As for Magnus, I'm actually in the minority of people that LOVE the white Optimus repaint. I have the Ultra Magnus from Universe, Classics, and OTFCC statue. So, since I passed on Prime I didn't have this mold, and bought him. A little floppy, but kinda cool. It was bittersweet, the end of Titaniums being a repaint of the first toy. And it was pretty cool...
Whats that you say? Wave Seven? Ah yes. WW Megatron was never seen on his own but plenty seen packed with Prime at Toys R Us. The toy didn't possess any of the power of WW Megs, looked dumb and had a really half assed vehicle mode. The Holy Grail of Titaniums G1 Ultra Magnus, complete with armor. I don't know why this is so popular. Are people that desperate for armor? He had an entire cab sticking out of his back and huge shoulders!
Oh, and let's not forget the comic con exclusives. I hate Rodimus but I'm a sucker for black repaints so Menasaur made his way into my collection. Yeah, the molds not that great, but at least the color scheme was cool. Looked much better at Botcon though. As for Skywarp, I was going to buy him...but unfortunately my budget kicked in so thats out of my reach. Oh well, I have one of the mold.
So that's it, including these two exclusives, twenty releases in all. In my collection, I gots eight. A cool line but hampered by simple transformations, simple alternate modes, and floppy joints that means they can barely stand. But Grimlock is truly the last of this piece of TF history. How does he stack up?
His vehicle mode is a little too simple. Legs stick out a bit too much. But that being said, it still looks pretty good. Much Better then WW Megs. It's fairly detailed, and looks pretty accurate to the comics. His weapon storage is not accurate but it's simply nice he has it. Transformation is, of course, very easy. But I don't really find that to be a detriment for these figures, I mean, they do have to deal with all that weight. Joints, now that's another story. How is his robot mode? Actually, great, almost perfect. No one is more fitting to be cast from metal then one of my favorites, Big Grim. The legs are fairly posable, although his shoulders lack and his arms suffer due to their design. Which brings me to Grimlock's only problem. His arms. The design is great and the mold looks cool except for his incredibly SMALL and puny arms. They just look so wrong. Not to mention they sort of stick out of his shoulders and limit any posablity. However, other then that big quip, he's my second favorite Titanium after Primal and a great TF on his own right. Fairly posable, bulky and detailed, he just looks pretty badass. And he comes with two different accessories, not just one or two of the same. It's great. So, ok posabilty, ok vehicle mode, and cool robot mode make Grimlock a cool figure on his own right. Certainly cooler now that he's an exclusive. Perhaps that's what this line should've been from the beginning.
So, in conclusion, Grimlock is recommended, I know there is a lot of Universe and Animated stuff out right now (BELIEVE me I know) But he's certainly worth a look. Can't speak for Prowl though.
Since I like making lists and in case anyone cares what I think, here is how I rate the eight molds that I own. I was going to add them all in but I guess it's only fair since the line gets beat on enough, so I won't judge those that I don't have.
1. Optimal Optimus
2. Grimlock
3. Ultra Magnus
4. Fallen
5. Cheetor
6. Thundercracker
7. Menasaur
8. Soundwave
Hopes everyone enjoyed my rambling trip through this line. I would love to hear everyone's thoughts! So drop a comment, or email, or whatever! See you guys next time!
When this was announced, I thought it was pretty cool but wasn't terribly interested in it. Sure, it seemed like a great idea as a side line for collectors, but none of the first wave grabbed me. I'd have to wait and see...
First wave: WW Optimus Prime and GIJOE Megatron. Prime was actually pretty cool looking, and I liked that Hasbro was branching into comic figures. Still...he didn't catch my attention long enough for me to spend twenty bucks on, especially since I was knee deep into being a completest for Cybertron (A line that I really, really liked.) So, unfortunately, Prime had to pass for Scott to save a little dough. And the Megatron? Ugh. What a boring robot mode, boring tank mode, and a transformation that I could work out just by looking at the vehicle mode. I mean, I know that the Titaniums had simple transformations, but this was ridiculous. I mean, you could see his crotch on the front of the tank. PASS. Things were not boding well. But then, a ray of light appeared....
Second wave: WW Jetfire and WW Thundercracker. Now we're talking. WW done right. Prime's coolness, but with more interesting designs and different characters. Thundercracker BEFORE Starscream? Sign me up! TC became the first purchase from this line. He's pretty cool, shoulders are a bit weak, but other wise a great figure. It really showed me what this line could do. Jetfire was nice too, but a little too skinny, and like I said earlier, my cash was almost all in Cybertron.
Third wave: Optimal Optimus and Scourge. The awesomeness continued with this wave. I'm not a huge G1 booster and I especially hate the movie designs. So Scourge was a definate pass for me, but even I could admit it was pretty nice. But Optimal Optimus? From Beast Wars, one of my favorite TF eras? I was actually excited for this toy. Not to mention that the actual Optimal Optimus figure was getting some weak joints due to all the excessive play from my youth. So I was eager for a new one. And it was great, the figure was a perfect scaled down model, and had metal in all the right places. Complete with show accurate chest guns! He's my favorite of this line to this day.
Fourth Wave: Rodimus and Soundwave. What went wrong here? Rodimus? Rodimus sucks. He sucked in the cartoon, his original toy sucked, why would we want another of him? Granted, this toy was the best he ever looked, but my hatred for all things Hot Rod and Rodimus drove me away from him, which I was A-Ok with. I did buy Soundwave though. I may not love G1 more then other Transformers series (don't get me wrong, I like the series, just not as much the movie-verse, animated-verse, and others) but it's impossible to not love Soundwave. He's awesome, pure and simple. And as I never had any Soundwave toy, and Classics Soundwave was not on the horizon yet, I bought him. And truthfully, he's not terrible, but the low crotch is definitely weird and my Soundwave is the definition of floppy. So he was good, posable for a Titanium, but not great, because he couldn't stand.
Fifth Wave: WW Starscream and RID Optimus Prime. Ah, the first repaint. Seeing as I like Thundercracker better then Screamer and I already owned the mold, I passed. And as for Prime, it was cool that they brought his trailer into the transformation, but the mold didn't look cool enough to take my money. Especially after Floppywave.
But then...Titaniums went away. They completely dried up. No new releases. Once they sold, they were nary to be found. Until some weird shipping schedule shipped out wave six and wave EIGHT into stores. A lot, actually.
Wave Six: Cheetor and The Fallen. New molds! Hurrah! Actually, for all the bad press surrounding Beast Machines, I actually kinda liked parts of it. Sure, a bunch a Cheetors were churned out, but hey, why not one more? It's not as good as Night Slash Cheetor but the figure was actually nice. The Fallen was an awesome choice, and even though the vehicle mode was a little weak, the robot mode had a lot of great details. Both of these interested me enough to buy.
Wave Eight: WW Sunstorm and WW Magnus. Sunstorm and not Skywarp? Um, ok, whatever. Not a bad looking repaint but the seeker mold was not good enough to warrant a second purchase having already passed on Screamer. As for Magnus, I'm actually in the minority of people that LOVE the white Optimus repaint. I have the Ultra Magnus from Universe, Classics, and OTFCC statue. So, since I passed on Prime I didn't have this mold, and bought him. A little floppy, but kinda cool. It was bittersweet, the end of Titaniums being a repaint of the first toy. And it was pretty cool...
Whats that you say? Wave Seven? Ah yes. WW Megatron was never seen on his own but plenty seen packed with Prime at Toys R Us. The toy didn't possess any of the power of WW Megs, looked dumb and had a really half assed vehicle mode. The Holy Grail of Titaniums G1 Ultra Magnus, complete with armor. I don't know why this is so popular. Are people that desperate for armor? He had an entire cab sticking out of his back and huge shoulders!
Oh, and let's not forget the comic con exclusives. I hate Rodimus but I'm a sucker for black repaints so Menasaur made his way into my collection. Yeah, the molds not that great, but at least the color scheme was cool. Looked much better at Botcon though. As for Skywarp, I was going to buy him...but unfortunately my budget kicked in so thats out of my reach. Oh well, I have one of the mold.
So that's it, including these two exclusives, twenty releases in all. In my collection, I gots eight. A cool line but hampered by simple transformations, simple alternate modes, and floppy joints that means they can barely stand. But Grimlock is truly the last of this piece of TF history. How does he stack up?
His vehicle mode is a little too simple. Legs stick out a bit too much. But that being said, it still looks pretty good. Much Better then WW Megs. It's fairly detailed, and looks pretty accurate to the comics. His weapon storage is not accurate but it's simply nice he has it. Transformation is, of course, very easy. But I don't really find that to be a detriment for these figures, I mean, they do have to deal with all that weight. Joints, now that's another story. How is his robot mode? Actually, great, almost perfect. No one is more fitting to be cast from metal then one of my favorites, Big Grim. The legs are fairly posable, although his shoulders lack and his arms suffer due to their design. Which brings me to Grimlock's only problem. His arms. The design is great and the mold looks cool except for his incredibly SMALL and puny arms. They just look so wrong. Not to mention they sort of stick out of his shoulders and limit any posablity. However, other then that big quip, he's my second favorite Titanium after Primal and a great TF on his own right. Fairly posable, bulky and detailed, he just looks pretty badass. And he comes with two different accessories, not just one or two of the same. It's great. So, ok posabilty, ok vehicle mode, and cool robot mode make Grimlock a cool figure on his own right. Certainly cooler now that he's an exclusive. Perhaps that's what this line should've been from the beginning.
So, in conclusion, Grimlock is recommended, I know there is a lot of Universe and Animated stuff out right now (BELIEVE me I know) But he's certainly worth a look. Can't speak for Prowl though.
Since I like making lists and in case anyone cares what I think, here is how I rate the eight molds that I own. I was going to add them all in but I guess it's only fair since the line gets beat on enough, so I won't judge those that I don't have.
1. Optimal Optimus
2. Grimlock
3. Ultra Magnus
4. Fallen
5. Cheetor
6. Thundercracker
7. Menasaur
8. Soundwave
Hopes everyone enjoyed my rambling trip through this line. I would love to hear everyone's thoughts! So drop a comment, or email, or whatever! See you guys next time!
BACK FROM THE DEAD
HUZZAH! I'M BACK!
Yes, as everyone probably realized (though I doubt anyone cared, ;)) Decepticast was no more. That's ok, because it just wasn't working. Writing and recording the podcast became such a huge task for me to do, and the listener-quota wasn't supporting it. Besides, I got killed by the competition, as such high profile sites such as Tformers and TFW2005 started their casts right after mine went down for re-tooling. Thats ok, easy come easy go. Besides, all of those podcasts have multiple people shooting off and bouncing ideas around, and mine only had my stupid voice. Not to mention that I was so afraid of popping Ps and other technical glitches I was bound to a pretty rigid delivery, not letting my natural comedy flow. Well, here's a blog, where I can write everything I want and anything I want and still be funny. Hopefully.
So I've revitalized the blog, and am going to focus all my attentions, reviews, comments, and other shenanigans right here. I hope everyone enjoys this blog and joins me week after week, day after day for Transformers fun.
Enough talk!
Transform and Rise UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, as everyone probably realized (though I doubt anyone cared, ;)) Decepticast was no more. That's ok, because it just wasn't working. Writing and recording the podcast became such a huge task for me to do, and the listener-quota wasn't supporting it. Besides, I got killed by the competition, as such high profile sites such as Tformers and TFW2005 started their casts right after mine went down for re-tooling. Thats ok, easy come easy go. Besides, all of those podcasts have multiple people shooting off and bouncing ideas around, and mine only had my stupid voice. Not to mention that I was so afraid of popping Ps and other technical glitches I was bound to a pretty rigid delivery, not letting my natural comedy flow. Well, here's a blog, where I can write everything I want and anything I want and still be funny. Hopefully.
So I've revitalized the blog, and am going to focus all my attentions, reviews, comments, and other shenanigans right here. I hope everyone enjoys this blog and joins me week after week, day after day for Transformers fun.
Enough talk!
Transform and Rise UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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