Wait! It’s not the one you’re probably thinking of. I decided to dig in the box o’ old Transformers, and pull out one of my eBay purchases from a while back, Bonecrusher from Beast Wars.
I’m not sure what to say about altmodes for a Beast Wars figure. Bonecrusher is a reasonable approximation of a buffalo, although I’m not sure that they come in a silver and black variety. I do know that they taste good, though. I’m pretty sure gold horns and red eyes are right out there. There’s not much posability in this figure’s beast mode, which is pretty common for smaller figures from the line. I guess the legs wiggle a bit. His real play feature in this mode is that pulling on the tail just right (it helps to tilt it down to get a bit more lift at the front) will cause the robot mode head to pop up and shoot a missile. Read the rest…
So, tonight I got Ratchet, which means I’ve got the core cast of Autobots from Animated. Naturally, I want a group shot. So I finally built a light tent (haven’t checked the images to see how they turned out [edit: they turned out terrible, more work is needed to get camera-wise]), and set them up to take some pictures. Shooting one of them, Bulkhead fell over and tore a hole in the dollar store tissue paper I used for the sides.
OK, because I grabbed him while fumbling around in the dark for a toy to review, today’s review is going to be about Dropkick.
Dropkick, despite being connected with the video game adaptation of the movie, is actually a pretty nice figure. His altmode is a very nice blue and silver Chevy Silverado (actually, it’s not licensed - I’m tempted to call it a Chavy Silverada or something like that, but that seems annoying to try to keep up). In the deco of the truck mode, he’s got what is possibly the biggest faction symbol in the history of the brand - it’s about half the length of the truck. Clever. The truck is lowered to an insane degree, and if I hadn’t seen people actually doing crazy things like that, I wouldn’t believe it to be accurate to reality (Autobot tip: to evade this Decepticon, find some speed bumps!). Unlike Ironhide, this vehicle features something I’ve never seen on another Transformer - the bed cover actually has a pickup bed underneath, and is removable. Very nice. The bed cover doubles as a “capture claw” type device, which is deployable through a spring-loaded cover in the tailgate. Read the rest…
OK, I can’t sleep, so I’ll hammer out a review. Because I love him, this time it’s Animated Prowl’s turn to take centre stage.
Prowl, like his G1 counterpart, is wearing police colours. Unlike his G1 counterpart, he’s also a motorcycle and a ninja. Sadly, the deluxe Optimus Prime is too large to ride him without looking silly. He’s got a nice looking gold and black deco, with very little robot showing through. At first glance, it’s hard to actually see where they might have stuck the robot in there. He rolls, he’s got a kickstand, he’s a good looking bike. The lightbar is a nice touch as well. But what else can I say about his vehicle mode? Read the rest…
Well, it’s another Bring Your Transformer to Work day, and this week I let my wonderful lady pick one out. I opened the bag this morning, and to my surprise (because I’d forgotten I’d bought it) it’s Jolt, one of the Walmart exclusive deluxes from the Movie line.
Jolt is a redeco of Cybertron Crosswise, according to the Wiki, and transforms into a Bugatti EB 15.4 Veyron. Supposedly. I’m not going to claim to be an expert on either Cybertron or Volkswagens, so I’ll take them at their word. It’s a nice looking car, at least, and the purple/silver/black colour scheme really seems to work on this mold. I’m reminded of Swindle, but I may be biased because that’s the colour I painted my spare. Nothing stands out from the vehicle mode as “missing”, except maybe “missiles”, but those can be added by inserting the key into the rear of the car. Voila, missiles (of the non-firing variety). If you want to shoot, he can fire a single spring loaded missile from his spoiler, but he’ll only hit targets behind him. If you want him shooting that missile at something in front of him, he’ll have to transform… Read the rest…
Now for the guy that’s been guarding my monitor for weeks, and is from what is fast becoming one of my favourite toylines yet - Cybertron Mode Optimus Prime from Transformers Animated.
This figure is from the first wave of Animated toys to hit the shelves here, along with Bumblebee, Lockdown, and Prowl. I hear most of the US has to wait. Too bad. It’s a nice toy. Sure, there’ll be bigger, badder versions coming out soon, but that’s no excuse to skip this toy (or any of the Animated toys, for that matter!). I can’t comment on whether or not Prime looks like a real Cybertronic semi, what with not having many around for comparison, but it’s a decent looking vehicle mode. Naturally, it’s mostly in red and blue, with a surprising amount of translucent blue plastic forming the front and top of the cab. It’s designed to look fast, and captures the style of Animated pretty decently. The gaps in the pieces are a bit worrisome, particularly the rear section and under the windshield. Otherwise, it’s a pretty nice truck. But who buys Optimus Prime to look at a truck? Read the rest…
Okay, time to review the first Transformer from my little project, Bring Your Transformer to Work Day. That’s right, it’s time to review that awesomely named Walmart exclusive, Big Daddy.
Big Daddy is a redeco of Cybertron Downshift, according to the Wiki. I don’t own that figure, so don’t expect any comparisons. His altmode is a bitchin’ muscle car, with orange flames against a navy blue body (I think he’s an Oilers fan). It’s quite the styling ride, which apparently fits the character. Being a Cybertron repaint, his gimmick features are activated by the nice little Cyber Planet Key (or is it an Allspark Power Key?) that was included. Lifting up the rear window reveals the keyhole, which pops a capture claw out of the front grille of the car. There’s no way to actually make it pinch, so it’s not really any good for capturing. It sure looks menacing, though. This altmode is almost enough to make me take back any mean things I said about Cybertron. But enough about that… Read the rest…
I’m going to kick things off with the toy that’s been sitting on my desk at work all week, Offroad Ironhide.
Offroad Ironhide is a redeco of the Ironhide figure from the Movie toyline. Like the original, this figure transforms into a GMC Topkick C4500 pickup truck. The figure is mostly dark blue, with flecked paint similar to what would be found on an automobile. Like all figures from the Allspark Power refresh of the movie toyline, Offroad Ironhide has a healthy dose of baby blue paint applied somewhat randomly pretty much anywhere. My favourite feature of the paint applications added to the figure for the redeco is the mud painted on around each wheel well. The wheels are free rolling in vehicle mode, and it looks pretty spiffy as it is. Read the rest…
![[del.icio.us]](http://www.dobie.ca/transformers/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://www.dobie.ca/transformers/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Google]](http://www.dobie.ca/transformers/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/google.png)
![[LinkedIn]](http://www.dobie.ca/transformers/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/linkedin.png)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://www.dobie.ca/transformers/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/stumbleupon.png)
![[Windows Live]](http://www.dobie.ca/transformers/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/windowslive.png)
![[Yahoo!]](http://www.dobie.ca/transformers/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/yahoo.png)
![[Email]](http://www.dobie.ca/transformers/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
