Bonecrusher hates that it’s taken this long to get a review done for him. He also hates that he probably won’t get a new toy for the Revenge of the Fallen toyline.
In vehicle mode, the first thing that jumps out about Bonecrusher is that they made him tiny. For such a big guy, he got stuck with a puny toy. Brawl got an upgrade, but no such luck for the guy that went toe to toe with Prime himself. He didn’t make out too poorly, though - there’s a ton of molded details, and the little tampographed Bonecrusher logo on the side is a nice touch. His vehicle mode is a little light on paint otherwise, though - just painted windows and a couple of painted lights (signal lights? on a minesweeper?) and spare tyres. He’s still fun, though - he’s got a good roll, and his big claw is articulated for plenty of car flipping action (admittedly, he’d be flipping Legends sized cars, but still). He’s concealed most of his obvious robot parts, excepting the toes sitting over his rear wheels. Read the rest…
By virtue of sitting at the top of my big bin o’ loose transformers, it’s Ultra Magnus’s turn to get a review. This time, it’s a Titanium series Ultra Magnus (G1 Ultra Magnus will have to wait until another day!)
In his vehicle mode, Ultra Magnus is about what you’d expect from a Titanium figure, which is to say, lots of visible robot parts, an inability to roll smoothly, and generally just not that fun. That’s okay, though, because Titanium figures aren’t really meant to be played with. It’s very similar structurally to the G1 toy, except the trailer doesn’t come off, all of the red parts are gone except the missile tips, and the proportions just seem… off. When did Ultramag lose his red? He seems to be stuck as the white and blue guy these days. There’s not much else to say about this mode, other than it doesn’t fit nicely on the base provided (it’s not intended to) and doesn’t have anywhere suitable for storing his rifle. Read the rest…
I decided to bring another Movie Scout with me this week to work, so this today’s review is going to be Warpath. Shockingly enough, he’s an Autobot, but I guess he’s a libertarian or something.
Out of the box, you’ve got an odd little red and black humvee thing, but with huge tyres that make me want to say “dune buggy”. Overall, it’s a nice colour scheme, and thankfully the Allspark blue is toned down enough that I can tolerate it. He rolls nice, there’s plenty of detailing, and he’s even got a spare tyre. It’s just over half the size of his actual tyres, but who’s counting? He’s got a very solid feel to him, and definitely feels like he’d be plenty fun just as is. This is a good thing, as he’s got no play features in this mode other than rolling around, keyport in the back be darned. Read the rest…
Okay, now it’s time to review the fastest thing on wheels, Deluxe Animated Bumblebee. You’d think after the movie toyline pimped ‘Bee out, I’d be sick of him, but, uh, yeah. I’m not. It looks like he’s not going to get the endless new versions this time around, too. But I bloody well better get a Wasp and Cliffjumper, because I’m a redeco junkie.
Out of the box, Bumblebee is a sporty little compact, done up in the yellow and black colours you’d expect. The yellow isn’t too bright, which is nice, but I’d have liked it if the paint apps for the headlights were a little brighter. They just blend in, to the point where I’d almost think they weren’t there. It’s a nice, simple deco, and the light on the roof is a nice touch (I hope they have a change of heart and remove it from later uses of the mould, especially ones that don’t give it a paint app of its own). The colour does appear a bit uneven on the bits that are painted yellow (because they’re made of translucent plastic for the windows) versus the parts that are moulded yellow. In vehicle mode, you can attach the Sumdac turbo boosters to the rear windows (those peg holes are well placed, and blend in nicely when not in use, I find) for some added fun. Read the rest…
It’s a tired day on Take Your Toy To Work day this week, and in my non-rush this morning I dragged Stockade in to harass my co-workers for the next week.
Out of the box, Stockade is similar to but technically distinct from the Sector 7 Escalades used in the movie. He’s mostly black, with heavily tinted windows and lights, silver detailing, an S7 emblem on his doors and a Decepticon logo on the grille. Pretty slick. I kind of figured an SUV would be taller (and scaled more closely to Ironhide), but I guess he wouldn’t fly as a voyager. Still, the silver details really make this a nice looking altmode, and the only real headscratcher for me is one of those pesky fuel doors on each side. Read the rest…
It’s been a while since I’ve done a Decepticon, and the tag cloud in the sidebar is telling me I should do another one. Grabbing the closest one at hand, I’ve got the bounty hunter Lockdown to review.
Lockdown’s vehicle mode is suitably intimidating, portraying death on wheels rather nicely. He’s got spikes on his roof, spikes on his bumper, spikes on his hubcaps, and plenty of other sharp surfaces to discourage the use of Detroit’s crosswalks. I’m not quite sure how a driver could be intended to see past that enormous engine that pokes out of the hood, but that could perhaps be part of the point. He’s slick, he’s low slung, and he’s just plain cool looking. Read the rest…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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