Meat Review – The Bootlegger Bar

January 18, 2021 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

As I mentioned when reviewing the E-I-E-I-O burger, I love a meal where there is more than one meat contained within the dish. And on a recent visit to Katoomba NSW I discovered a restaurant-slash-bar that had on its menu a dish that contained not two meats or three but indeed four!

So lets have a gander at the Bootleggers Meat Share Plate.

The Bootleggers bar Big Angry Trev — A meal made in Trev-heaven!

So the description of the meal is a Share Plate and it is indeed intended for two people. Given it was our anniversary I relented and shared this plate with my wife, but being the kind woman she is she let me devour the lions portion of it.

The meal comes with four meats from two different animals. Beef brisket and links (sausages) and chicken wings as well as fried chicken. Personally I would have preferred the links be made out of pork but you can’t have everything.

Along with the above came enough non-meat foods to ensure that you would have some chance of being able to pass your next bowel movement. Slaw, Corn, Pickles, Potato Salad and Chips. Good to see that at least 40% of the sides were spud based – potatoes being that good that they should almost be considered an honorary meat!

The meats were all very tender. The fried chicken was done very well, not remotely oily or greasy like that one would get from a fast food restaurant. The chicken wings were lightly spiced so not as hot as buffalo wings but at least had a bit of bite to them. The brisket was very tender as brisket should be. The only meat that didn’t impress me was the links. They weren’t bad in any way, but just your average beef sausages so were somewhat overshadowed by the rest.

The non-meat stuff was good too. I think. I dunno, I wasn’t really paying attention.

Exploding Hot Sauce!

Big Angry Trev The Bootlegger Bar — Sauce made by chef Wile. E. Coyote

The waitress brought out two types of hot sauce, espousing their virtues about how they were made on site, not simply store bought. As readers of my blog would know I love hot sauces so was eager to try them out. The red hot sauce was indeed very hot, not as hot as the likes of Mad Dog 357, but still had a helluva kick. The green sauce? Well I went to open it…

…and it exploded!

Perhaps exploded is not the right term. The heat had built up in the bottle so as soon as the top was twisted it made a sound like shook up cola can and the sauce blew forth! It covered my shirt, splattered my face and even left a sorta Trev-shaped splatter pattern on the window behind me.

The poor young waitress was very apologetic. After ascertaining that it had not gone in my eyes she brought multiple wet paper towels for me to clean myself, then later appeared with a shirt from the restaurants merchandise stash for me to wear home. So sadly, unless I had chosen to lick my clothing I never got to sample what the green hot sauce tasted like.

The shirt I wear when doing my **radio show**, though my music isn’t bootlegged – the CD’s are just really worn

Overall

This meal is nearly $80 but its certainly enough for two people (as long as one isn’t me) and its very good tasting. Besides the volatile hot sauces the only other accompaniment was a small bowl of BBQ sauce – personally I would have preferred to get a hearty gravy but perhaps that would push the meal into the realms of making a coronary a certainty. The bar had a different selection of wheat beers on tap which were quite nice, but if you’d take my recommendation skip the ginger based beer, it was pretty average. So yeah, do yourself a favour and if in Katoomba drop past Bootleggers – you will get a decent feed and maybe a free shirt!

Related Articles:

Meat Review: Pepino’s Mexican Restaurant

Meat Review: The Kings Hotel

Meat Review: Cactus Jam

Tales of the Trev, Transformatorium

How 20 Years of being an Adult Collector began

January 5, 2021 Big Angry Trev 4 Comments

This month – January 2021 – marks 20 years of me being an adult collector of Transformers.

It also marks the 20 year anniversary of my first (very short lived) marriage. And the two are not unconnected.

As a kid we didn’t have a great deal of money, though I never went without a roof over my head or food in my belly so we did OK. I’d get a few transformers each year with my bit of pocket money I earned mowing the lawns at home or turning in rabbit skins when visiting my dad. And I sometimes got a Transformer for a birthday or Christmas as well.

In my teens G1 was coming to an end. However this was also the time that my mother began running a small Toys & Gifts shop. This meant that I could get my Transformers wholesale! It was also the time of reissues so as well as being able to purchase Micromasters and Action Masters at cost, I was also able to grab the Combaticons, Arielbots, Protectobots and even a few bigger figures like some Dinobots & Autobot Cars. Yes sir, it was a golden time.

Sadly I strayed in my late teens as so many young men do. G2 didn’t hold much appeal for me and suddenly beer and girls were very interesting. So my collection, which at the time equalled 1 gross – 144 figures (if you counted individual bots such as Micromasters and Target Masters) – was put away in a box and did not see the light of day for many years.

I never stopped loving Transformers, even when I moved to Melbourne to go to Uni. But once again partying, friends and girls seemed somehow more important. I hated Beast Wars (I appreciate it now but back then thought it was an abomination) and sometimes my mates used to get me liquored up and goad me into a ‘trukk not munkey’ rant. To be honest to this day organic alt-modes still do little for me. So Transformers stayed waaaaay in the background of my existence.

Now comes January 2001

I got married. Stupidly. It was partly as I’d always been too lazy and cowardly to break up with the girl and partly because she had a balcony you could do Shakespeare from (I was young, shallow and dumb OK – a large chest seemed more important than a pleasant personality!). A couple of dear friends of mine were filming the wedding for us and asked what present we would like. I replied filming was more than gift enough. When they persisted I said jokingly ‘Get me a G1 Optimus Prime’.

Well the night of the wedding we are unwrapping gifts. I’m trying to stifle my boredom as they are mainly ‘grown-ups’ gifts like linen and breakfast trays (once again – I was 23 and immature). Then I unwrapped the gifts from Tammy & Michael.

And there… lo…. was a loose GENERATION ONE OPTIMUS PRIME!!!

Me on honeymoon with Optimus Prime. I swear he got more action than I did

There was also a Wreck-Gar (whom I already had but now they could ride each other!) and a Chop Shop. I squealed like an excited schoolgirl! For me it was the highlight of the night!

And thus after nearly a decade away, I came back to Transformer collecting. I discovered eBay and found so many G1 toys that my ranks quickly swelled. With a new career I had more money, and from big toys like Omega Supreme, Metroplex, Sky Lynx & Trypticon, to smaller figures like the Throttlebots, those G1 gaps were filling fast!

7 months into the marriage it ended. Shan’t go into details but let’s just say my ex worked in education and I discovered she was doing some very ‘private tuition’ with one of her teen students and leave it at that. So the marriage died which in the long run was one of the best things that could have ever happened to me; I ended up moving in coincidentally with the friends who had given me Optimus. But though my marriage was dead, my love for Transformers was thriving! I continued to buy G1 stuff online, and the new Robots in Disguise toys hit the shelves in Australia, bringing back all the concepts I loved like vehicular transformers and combiners.

My collecting has continued ever since. By the end of 2001 my collection, which had stagnated at a count of 144, was over two hundred and I had no inclination to just how far it would end up going! I’ve continued amassing Transformers right through all the cartoons from Armada to Cyberverse, throughout all the live-action movies and especially the G1-inspired toylines such as Generations, right up to the latest Earthrise figures. I’ve travelled many parts of the globe and brought back figures you couldn’t find in Australia. I got married again 12 years ago but this time it was for all the right reasons and I couldn’t imagine loving my wife more. If I’m 100% honest the fact that she is so tolerant of my hobby makes up a small part of that (only a small part, there are a plethora of wonderful things about her to love!). And my kids love to play Transformers with their Dad!

Now 20 years on I’m sitting at around the 3500 figures mark along with about another thousand pieces of TF merchandise, have my own Transformatorium shed and indeed this blog where I often share my love of the hobby. So I’m a pretty damn lucky guy!

I can’t even remember the exact day in January 2001 I got married on, but I damn sure remember getting that G1 Optimus Prime.

Related Articles:

Random Rant – When I learned to challenge my preconceptions

Transformatorium, Transformer Toy Reviews

Toys Review – Studio Series Hot Rod & Scourge

December 29, 2020 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

With Haslab’s Unicron due to ship out in a few months and 2021 being the 35^th anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie, it’s seems the perfect time for Hasbro to cash in on the nostalgia that still surrounds this cult classic movie to this day.

To this end, their higher end Studio Series line is taking a departure from the live-action movies to make figures intended to look as much like their onscreen counterparts as possible from the 1986 animated movie. The preview pictures online have had many fans frothing from the mouth with excitement and today we get to look at two of the Voyager class figures – Scourge and Hot Rod.

Scourge

Robot Mode

As someone who owns nearly ever iteration of the Sweeps commander, I can confidently say this is the best looking Scourge we’ve ever had! All the little details from the red claws to the facial hair, along with the larger details such as the bat wings, are just spot on. This really is a beautiful looking figure. He feels really solid with high quality materials used and is very easy to pose.

Scourge the Tracker. And his huntsmen – The Sweeps

Cybertronian Hovercraft

Once again a fantastic representation of how he looked on the screen. The only downside for me is the feet on the rear end of the hovercraft mode which precludes him having his usual rectangular booster. Given the feet were a problem with Earthrise Ratchet’s altmode as well I hope this isn’t a trend we see continued. However this is a minor quibble. You can attach Scourges weapon to the side of the Hovercraft and with a bit of fiddling about you can make his head pop up just like when he was asking to ‘gut Ultra Magnus’.

Hot Rod

Robot Mode

Hot Rod isn’t nearly as big as Scourge and indeed looks more like a Deluxe Size than a Voyager. However when you see all the options his body comes with along with the accessories you will understand why.

Hot Rod comes with a slew of options from the original toy and movie. As well as his two pistols he comes with;

His arm blasters and visor

His welding hand and circular saw

His Matrix of Leadership

All this adds up to being able to recreate a ton of iconic scenes from the movie and I deny any TF:TM fan to resist recreating many of these cinematic moments. Play value through the friggin roof yo!

Vehicle Mode

A very nice looking Hot Rod. I can’t say it has a giant ‘wow’ factor as we’ve gotten quite a few nice looking vehicular Hot Rod’s over the years. But it’s still pretty damn good and like Scourge you have the options to add weapon details such as guns from the engine (like his Targetmaster incarnation), his circular saw and also flames coming from the exhaust.

Transformations

Both of these figures have very cool transformations. They are quite involved and I recommend using the instructions the first time out, but there are never any moments where you feel lost or frustrated.

Worth Getting?

Oh hells yes! These are both fantastic figures and great representations of their movie incarnations. The only minor quibbles I have are Scourges booster as mentioned earlier, and I found one of Hot Rod’s arms very stiff and apt to pop out during transformation. I also would have liked to see his flame add-ons to be orange rather than matrix-fire blue. But these are all minor detractions. These figures, along with their display stands, will look great in anyone’s collection. I managed to get my figures for nearly half price due to a scanning error at the shop, but would feel I was getting my money’s worth even if I’d paid full price.

So go get these figures now – nothin’s gonna stand in your way – not tonight!

Got something to say about these two figures? Pop it in the comments section below!

Related Articles:

Toy Review – Studio Series Scrapper

Toy Review – Studio Series Scrapmetal

Transformatorium, Transformer Toy Reviews

Toys Review – Galactic Odyssey Ratchet & Lifeline

December 27, 2020 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

As the Earthrise portion of the War for Cybertron toy trilogy wraps up in preparation for the Kingdom line, people are still receiving exclusives that have been ordered and delayed due to the Covid Crisis.

I’ve just received one of these exclusives and it contains two characters that have historically been very hard to get in the Generations line. So without further ado let’s look at the Paradron Medics duo from the Galactic Odyssey Collection – Ratchet and Lifeline.

Ratchet

Ratchet has been a real bastard to get over the last decade for those who have wanted Generations versions of him. The only one that has seen mass release in the west was Rescue Ratchet from the Hunt for the Decepticon toyline. Being a movieverse toy with a G1 recolouring this did not sate fans who wanted a representation of the Ratchet of old. Then there was the Universe version, which saw a very limited release which lead many collectors like myself to pay stupid amounts to get him online. After that came Siege Ratchet, once again very hard to get as it only saw mass release in countries like Malaysia. Whilst Earthrise Ratchet is still an exclusive, at least he has been relatively easy to obtain through Amazon.

Robot Mode

Very G1 (cartoon). Looks really stocky and strong. Nicely proportioned and with decent articulation too. His windshield is more aqua coloured than blue which helps him match his partner Lifeline. Due to this Ratchet, despite having a Terran alt-mode, being based on Paradron he has no Red Cross stickers on his shoulders. The minimal red in his colour scheme makes him look a tad bland.

Ratchet comes with a shield (the ambulance roof) and a gun that is highly reminiscent of the G1 toy. Personally I liked how Siege Ratchet came with actual medical tools and feel that would have been good here.

Like the G1 Ratchet toy the roof becomes a sort of mini-medical bay thing. Not nearly as cool as the G1 version, this one does come with the same gun placed at the front. Personally I prefer to use it as a shield for him, making him look more like a combat medic.

Vehicle Mode & Transformation

For only the third time Ratchet is once again an old fashioned ambulance van. The transformation from robot to this mode really showcases how this Ratchet is actually a retool of the Siege version, and if it wasn’t for the new roof and the differently shaped windshield they would be near identical. It’s a great looking retro ambulance, the only drawback is those awful huge feet at the back of the vehicle.

“I can get to the hospital fast with these boosters! Just a shame I can’t carry any patients”

Lifeline

“I’ve got the expression of your Aunty at Xmas when she gives you that extra slice of pie”

Yep, if you appeared in the G1 cartoon you get a toy – that’s how it works these days. Lifeline was in one very tiny scene, tending to an injured Cyclonus, in S3 of the G1 cartoon. She never talked, never transformed and was never seen again. But like Lancer and Greenlight , she now gets her own figure.

Robot Mode

The only other figure produced of Lifeline was a Timelines version from the TFCC that was a recolour of Thrilling 30 Arcee. Likewise this Lifeline is a recolour of Earthrise Arcee. I actually like her more, her colours really do it for me and I think it’s a really nicely proportioned toy. When in group shots I tend to use T30 Arcee so that there is that bit more differentiation between Lifeline and her.

Arcee secretly plots to kill Lifeline out of jealousy of her slimmer thighs

You can remove the backpack for it to become a sort of sled. Lifeline also comes with an Energon Infuser which is obviously a gun. Like Ratchet I would have liked to see her receive some actual medical tools. Still, it’s a good looking figure with some really great articulation.

“Check it out – I’m doing the final scene from the **Footrot Flats** movie!”

Vehicle Mode & Transformation

Like Earthrise Arcee and Netflix Elita, Lifeline is a Shellformer, and not a very good one at that. It is so frikken hard to get her body to squeeze into the car shell properly, and when you do manage it the slightest nudge makes the legs pop back out which pretty much ruins her play value in this mode. She looks nice from certain angles but otherwise this is a very disappointing alt-mode and it’s embarrassing I have three different versions of it now.

“Errr, pay no attention – those are just the brakes for my hovermode. Yeah, thats it – the brakes”

Worth Getting?

Being an exclusive (like half the Generations line seems to be these days) these figures are more expensive than those on the store shelves. Ratchet’s vehicle mode is compromised by the feet at the back and Lifeline’s by the legs that constantly emerge from her undercarriage. These negatives may cause you to bypass if you expect top quality from your Generations toys.

However overall I’m quite happy with the pairs other attributes. Both have great robot modes, both match each other very well and both are a lot easier to obtain than the previous figures of them that have been released. So if you are looking to finally add a G1’esque Ratchet and Lifeline to your Generations line-up than these two are well worth grabbing.

Got something to say about this medical duo? Pop it in the comments section below!

Related Articles:

Toy Review – Earthrise Snapdragon

Toy Review – Earthrise Sky Lynx

Toy Review – EX-0-1 Nicee

Games & Competitions, Tales of the Trev, Transformatorium

Big DJ Trev is back on the Radio!

December 4, 2020 Big Angry Trev 8 Comments

2020 may have been a bit of disaster on many fronts, what with Pandemics and Bushfires and the like, but it is ending on a high note:

BIG ANGRY TREV is back on the airways!

That’s right, after a 20 year hiatus I’m back on the radio baby! You my loyal readers can now also become my loyal listeners! On various Thursday nights (dates to be constantly updated) from 6pm to 9pm (Australian Eastern Daylight Time) Big Angry Trev will be on the air with The Big DJ Trev Show, bringing you a multitude of brilliant musical hits as well as my patented snappy banter. You can listen on the radio or online at KRR-FM 98.7.

Competition Time

As readers of my blog would be aware, I’m a big Transformers nut. As a result I have the Soundtracks to all of the TF movies. Each radio show, after the 7pm weather, I’ll be having Transformer Talk.

Transformer Talk will be a brief chat about anything Transformers people would care to know, followed by a Transformer song picked by the audience.

So in the comments section of this post, nominate something you would like me to talk about. It could be as simple as ‘Who is your favourite Combaticon’ to something more overarching such as ‘What is your opinion on the Cyberverse cartoon and toyline as a whole’.

Also, nominate which song from the following list you would like to hear played. For my second show and the first week of the competition I will be playing a song from the 1986 Animated Movie.

Pick one song from the below and pop it in your comment:

*Transformers Theme – Lion

*Dare – Stan Bush

*Nothins’ Gonna Stand in our Way – Spectre General

*Instruments of Destruction – N.R.G

*Hunger – Kick Axe

*The Touch – Stan Bush

*Dare to be Stupid – Weird Al Yankovic

The song with the most votes will get played this Thursday the 10^th of December 2020 after 7pm.

Tune In!

So enter the competition if you are a Transformer fan. And if you aren’t still tune in to KRR-FM 98.7 and let Big Angry Trev make sweet consensual love to your ears – you will find your brain impregnated by the best tunes and cracking chat you ever did hear!

Transformatorium, Transformer Toy Reviews

Toy Review – Cyberverse Iaconus

November 27, 2020 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

Titans are becoming a larger (no pun intended) part of Transformers lore. However for the most part they have remained in the Generation One universe with its associated comics and toylines.

Cyberverse became surprisingly popular as the cartoon progressed through the seasons, it was a very G1’esque universe, and indeed featured two brand new Titan characters – Croaton and Iaconus.

Iaconus was actually a pretty cool character – a War Titan under the command of Alchemist Prime (MacAddams) he was responsible for smashing a lot of alien planets, before going dormant back on Cybertron. The city of Iacon was built on top of him and the only part of him that remained above the surface got turned by Alchemist Prime into MacAddams Old Oil House.

Well this Titan has managed to get a figure in before the Cyberverse line comes to an end. So lets have a look at Ultimate Class Iaconus.

Robot Mode

Pretty big and impressive. Lots of plastic detail in the shins and shoulders to show his city origin and overall pretty faithful to the cartoon. Colour scheme works quite well too. However his articulation is severely limited, hampered by his various built in gimmicks so his poseability is limited to his arms and how you affix his sword and shield.

One of these aforementioned gimmicks is the flip-over armor. This makes his head (in shape if not colour) resemble how he looked in the cartoon.

City Mode

‘Errr… I’m a sort of Turtle-Base that flies backwards through space?’

I hate to say it, I really hate to say it, but what a pile of shit! OK, he had a pretty basic city mode in the cartoon, just a sorta nondescript squat green base, but this still looks worse.

There is stuff here that makes no sense! Why are there thrusters on the front? Does he fly backwards through space? Why are the wings and turbines underneath instead of on the sides or top? Frankly it looks a mess, like one of those stupid half-transformation toys that came out in earlier waves of the Cyberverse toyline. This mode has almost no play value except for the spring gimmick that makes him transform automatically back into robot mode.

Worth Getting?

I got this figure on sale for only $30(AU) and to be honest despite his big size, big weapons and multiple gimmicks I have trouble justifying even that price. He has almost zero articulation, his transformation is simplistic and crap and his alt-mode is one of the most awful I’ve ever seen. Seriously, those thruster’s on the front of the city mode instead of the back really piss me off. So unless you are a diehard Cyberverse or Titans fan, or this is for a younger fan, this figure is an easy pass.

Related Articles:

Toys Review : Cyberverse Deluxe – Wave 1

Toy Review – Cyberverse Gnaw

Games & Competitions, Transformatorium

Game Review – Transformers Battlegrounds

November 6, 2020 Big Angry Trev 1 Comment

Transformers Battlegrounds is the first Gaming Console game released by the Transformers brand since Devastation several years ago and takes a much different tack to its predecessors.

Whilst previous Transformer console games have been primarily 3^rd person shooters such as War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron, or hack & slash like Devastation, Transformers Battlegrounds is a strategy turn-based game where you (as a hovering human) control a group of bots below to work your way through levels until you have the obligatory ‘boss battle’ at the end.

Right from the outset you can tell this is a Transformers game aimed at younger players. The game is based on the recent Cyberverse cartoon which itself was aimed at younger fans. The controls are simple and easy to pick up and the gameplay follows a very simplistic style. Older players who are looking for an in-depth turn-based game with hundreds of options are going to be disappointed, but the game is a good entry point for your younger player who doesn’t want to get too burdened with choice. So lets take a look at the different facets of this game.

The Levels

The graphics are very faithful to the cartoon, which is both good and bad. The cartoon had very simple 3D animation with smooth bots with minimal details and the environments they inhabited were even more so. The game reflects this and you work your way through environments such as identical looking towns, deserts and even Cybertron itself – none of which look particularly impressive.

Once again, the makers of the game had to stay true to the source material but when we were treated to such visual marvels back on the PS3 in Fall of Cybertron, its kind of disappointing for so little potential of the PS4 to be utilized here.

The Characters

The game contains a decent variety of characters from the show. In the main campaign you play as the Autobots and take control of such characters as Arcee, Windblade, Grimlock, Wheeljack and the obligatory Optimus and Bumblebee. There are many opponents from the Decepticon cast of the show as well; Seekers such as Starscream, Slipstream, Acid Storm, Thundercracker and Thrust, as well as other characters such as Dead End, Strika, Megatron and Shockwave with his drones. The Decepticon cast is also fleshed out by several characters that never appeared in the show but did in the Generations toyline such as Battletrap and Offroad. Several of the Decepticon show characters are also playable in the Multiplayer mode so you get a chance to play both sides of the conflict.

The characters look faithful to the show, but once again the game designers have made little use of the PS4’s capabilities. Characters are very limited in their animations and any cutscenes simply show speech blocks at the bottom of the screen rather than bothering to make the actual characters lips move. They did get the voice actors from the show in which is a plus, but in some situations the characters say things that aren’t applicable. For instance, in ‘Capture the Flag’ the character with the flag often says ‘I’m damaged here!’ or ‘I’m leaking Energon!’ even if they haven’t sustained any damage. Also, in the main game lots of the female Seekers give distinctly masculine grunts. Rather than this being a gender-swapping scenario like Acid Storm in the cartoon, it comes across as simply lazy by the designers who didn’t bother to match up the voices to the characters correctly.

Gameplay

As mentioned the gameplay is very simplistic, with you herding your group of bots through different levels. Each character has different abilities which can be upgraded throughout the game. Each character gets three action tokens to use per round and these are used for either travel, attack or healing other bots. There is some strategy to this game, for instance using your scout characters to herd Cons towards your tank characters to get taken out, with healer characters ready to either snipe or heal as needed. But the depth is minimal and any experienced gamer will soon grow bored.

Multiplayer

Here is the main reason that I personally purchased the game, so that my son and I could sit on the couch next to each other and finally play a Transformers game together. Before this Transformer console games have either been single player or online coop, with no options to sit and play with your buddies. There are five different multiplayer options, some of which you can play as Cons, ranging from taking out as many enemies as possible in a limited number of turns, to games such as Capture the Flag. The latter was by far the most fun to play with my son as one of us would steal the flag while the other provided cover or heal. But, like the main game, the lack of depth was disappointing and despite my sons young age we both found ourselves growing bored.

Overall

While this game opens up a new style of gameplay for Transformer games, it’s simplicity is also its downfall. Lackluster graphics, overly-simplistic and repetitive gameplay and an uninspired storyline relegate this release to a niche that will only appeal to younger and less experienced gamers. For older gamers, and even younger gamers who have spent a lot of time with a controller in their hands, this game will become very dull very quickly and only appeal to the most die hard of Transformer fans.

Got a comment about this game? Pop it in the comments section below.

Related Articles:

Game App Review – Transformers Bumblebee Overdrive

Devastator Pack Gameplay – Transformers TCG

ROTS Booster Packs Gameplay – Transformers TCG

Transformatorium, Transformer Toy Reviews

Toy Review – EX-01 Nicee

October 30, 2020 Big Angry Trev 2 Comments

I find it hard to resist buying an Arcee figure. As a multiverse collector this is the case with a lot of G1-originated characters for me, but there are characters that I nearly always get and Arcee is one of them.

Why? Not sure. Maybe because she was such a well known character from the 1986 movie, as well as Seasons 3 & 4 of the G1 cartoon but never got a toy of her own. I had to wait until I was in my 20’s before I got my first representation of her as a statue bust. But since then I’ve gotten her in so many lines – Alternators, Energon, Prime, Animated, Thrilling 30, Q and most recently Cyberverse and Earthrise. Heck, I even have her in Mouse Pad form! However none of these figures ever really captured Arcee for me and how cool she is, especially her vehicle form.

Arcee is getting the Masterpiece treatment as we speak and that figure is due to be released soon. But in the meantime I did something I almost never do. Despite having about 3500 Transformer figures in my collection, you could count the amount of 3^rdparty figures I own on one hand. Given some of the complaints about the aesthetic of the new MP Arcee coming out, I decided to shell out and purchase a 3P figure of her where the aesthetic goes in the opposite direction. So lets take a look at EX-01 Arcee NICEE from BIGFIREBIRDTOY.

Nicee Arcee Big Angry Trev — The packaging wont win design awards for subtlety…

Robot Mode

Aesthetic

An incredibly stylized version of Arcee Nicee. Considering the popularity of the differently styled aesthetic of Animated, I’ve never really understood why Transformers would not try for a Japanese influenced Anime theme. This figure is extremely anime in its aesthetics, from the long slim limbs to the quasi-angelic wings and armour that almost appears to be a battle bikini. It really is a fantastic looking figure. Before we go further however, lets address the elephants in the room…

Let’s get this out of the way. Yes she has boobs. Her armour is specifically shaped to enhance this. There is no getting away from it and given the picture on the front of her box it seems that this is supposed to be a big selling point for Arcee Nicee. Now I totally get this kind of thing not being everyone’s cup of tea. Completely understandable. But here’s the great thing….

…. If you don’t like it you don’t have to buy it. Lucky you!

Interchangeable Body Parts

Nicee comes with two heads, two chests and 8 hands (4 left and 4 right). The reason for so many hands is each one is designed to hold a different weapon, be it blunt or ranged. They look rather skeletal and kinda freaky to be honest. The chests are completely identical except one is white and the other is shiny white. The heads are slightly different to each other, in particular the face. For those of you who don’t like Arcee Nicee having metal hair, you can remove it. This is one of the instances where the figure lets me down – I wanted her to have a head more in keeping with her usual look, and while removing the hair allows this, it also leaves a big gap above her forehead which ruins the effect. So if you are not a hair fan too bad – better a bob than a hole in the head I guess.

Poseability

The figure has really good tight joints and multiple points of articulation. She is able to be put into all manner of poses and stances, balances fairly well and possesses good flexibility.

Vehicle Form

How friggin sexy does this look! As I’ve mentioned I don’t usually buy 3P figures but if they are all like this then I understand why people do. Nicee puts every Arcee figure in my collection to shame. The aesthetics are just wonderful; the sleek lines and subtle curves interspersed with straight lines really make this a beautiful alien car to behold.

The paint job is very high quality and the bright translucent blue used for the windscreen, headlights and taillights ad a nice counterbalance to all the pink and white. There are all sorts of little details that add to the beauty of this figure, in particular I like the steering dash and moulded seats.

Weaponry

Nicee comes with multiple weapons including spear, sword, pistol and shield. Also you are able to remove her backpack and combine it with the spear into a sort of energy bow. Given her ability to be put into all manner of poses this sets you up for some great battle shots!

Transformation

The transformation is fairly straight forward and the instructions make it look more complicated than it actually is. In fact it is sorta reminiscent of Thrilling 30 Arcee. The shield becomes the top of the vehicle but this is no way means she is a simple partsformer. My only two gripes would be that if you don’t position the high heels just right they can impede the front wheels rolling in vehicle mode, and that there are lots of little tabs that need to go together – often when you are tightening one another pops out of place. However a good transformation on the whole. You may find it convenient to take her hands off when putting her in vehicle form.

Worth Getting?

This on the whole is actually a pretty great figure, and given how expensive 3P items are the price tag is fairly acceptable. But what is going to be the deciding factor for people here isn’t going to be the articulation or transformation or plastic quality – it’s going to be the aesthetic. Some people are going to think this figure looks great, some are going to think it’s an abomination. So if the idea of an anime styled transformer appeals to you then you are going to love Nicee. If the idea of transformers being sexualized in any fashion is enough to send you on a month long twitter tirade then steer well clear. Just remember no matter what side of the fence you fall on, don’t hate on the other side – just be…. Nicee.

Got something to say about this figure? Pop it in the comments section below!

Related Articles

Transformer Wrist Wrest Mouse Pads

Meaty Goodness!

Meat Recipe #14 – Trev’s Prawn Paella

October 26, 2020 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

Living in a rural area, most of my meat recipes involve some form of farm animal. But today it’s something a bit different. See, out here in the bush we often forget that that big blue wobbly thing called the ocean that is so far away from our location is full of all kind of weird and whacky looking creatures that can be cooked up and popped in our tums.

In our tiny town we have The Fish Man. The fish man is a man with a refrigerated van full of seafood from the Sydney fish markets that morning, who tours the small rural towns once a fortnight and is our only chance to buy really fresh seafood.

When my wife and I were in Spain I had some fantastic Paella – great stuff! I’ve never been able to replicate it since but below is the recipe I use that comes the closest. It’s easy to make and tastes damn good! So without further ado lets look at Trev’s Prawn Paella!

Ingredients:

2 tbs olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 red capsicum, deseeded and chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp Mixed Spice
2 tsp Ground Paprika
500g Arborio Rice
1 cup dry white wine
1L chicken stock
1 bunch broccolini, chopped
800gm’s shelled green prawns

Juice of 1 lemon,
1 lemon but into 8^th’s
Flat-leaf parsley, shredded

Method:

Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add onion and capsicum. Cook for 3-4 minutes until softened.
Add garlic and spices and cook for a further minute.
Add rice and stir to coat. Add wine and stock. Simmer for 15 minutes.
When all liquid has been absorbed by the rice stir through broccolini and spoon into baking tray
Layer prawns over top of paella. Sprinkle lemon juice over dish. Add segmented lemon pieces.
Roast for 15 minutes in oven at 220c
Remove from oven & sprinkle over shredded parsley. Serve.

And there ya go, a fabulous Spanish Dish that tastes great! Cook and enjoy!

Related Articles:

Meat Recipe #7: Swedish Tunnbrodsrulle

Meat Recipe #13: Roasted Duck in Crabmeat Sauce

Random Reviews

Star Trek V: Kirk vs God

October 23, 2020 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

While I quite like Star Wars – the first three movies made at any rate – I’m much more of a Trekkie. And like my feelings on Star Wars, I much prefer the original stuff to the new stuff. Oh there have been some quite good new movies made in both franchises, but it’s the old stuff that revs my engine.

Before Star Trek: The Next Generation debuted, there were 6 Star Trek movies. Admittedly the first one was a dog’s breakfast, an absolute shitshow which even the most die hard Trek fans struggle to like. The others were more well received but there is one that still cops flak – unfairly in my opinion – to this day. And that is Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

Or as I like to call it – Kirk vs God.

Back in The Original Series Kirk faced down not only supremely powerful aliens with god-like powers routinely, but even met old gods from Earth like those of the Greek Pantheon. In these encounters Kirk either had sex with them or beat them up – a winning formula for a Starship Captain on the frontier.

Kirk: “I don’t care if he is in a dress – I’m not boning this one”

In Star Trek V this attitude of James Tiberius is taken to the extreme. Let’s look a short synopsis of the plot:

*Kirk, Spock and Bones go camping, play with jet-boots and get drunk.

Kirk: “I was pissed and napping. I ain’t getting fully dressed for whatever this is”

*Spock’s half-brother Sybok brainwashes the crew of the Enterprise (bar Kirk & Spock) to fly the Starship to the center of the universe to find God.

*Klingon’s follow as their Commander wants to destroy Kirk since doing so, as his second in command states, it would make him “The greatest warrior in the Galaxy”.

*They find God. Kirk, Bones, Spock and his brother beam down to a planet and have a chat with him.

God: “Hey, I’m God. I’m all loving, so do as I say or die!”

*Kirk doesn’t like the cut of God’s jib – Kirk thinks God is coming across as a bit of an arsehole. So since God isn’t female Kirk picks a fight! God, wisely knowing that if he gets into a brawl with Kirk he will get his celestial arse handed to him, shoots at them with energy bolts instead, then has a wrestle with Spock’s brother and kills him.

*Kirk knows God’s cheating with the energy bolts so returns the favour by having The Enterprise shoot God with photon torpedoes. Kirk’s near where the blasts will impact but knows he can withstand it, whilst God himself sustains a nice bit of damage. Kirk has his friends beamed away so he can finish the fight one-on-one.

*Kirk and God square off. Before Kirk can headbutt him, the Klingon Bird of Prey spaceship shows up and shoots God in the face, killing him. The gun then swings towards Kirk.

*Kirk’s pissed off – that was his fight! So standing there he calls the Klingon’s bastards (despite the fact THE GUN THAT JUST KILLED GOD IS BEING AIMED RIGHT AT HIM!) and challenges the hovering Klingon Battleship to bring it on!

*Just before Kirk can punch on with the battleship he gets beamed up and turns out it was Spock in the Klingon battleship that shot God, as he was the Vulcan equivalent of pissed off at God for killing his brother.

*Everyone gets drunk again.

Now to me, that is good cinema. Oh, besides the camping scene, the first half of the movie is forgettable with Spock’s half-brother running round curing peoples inner pain and whatnot. And there was plenty of other stuff that probably could have been cut as well. However the ending is great!

But then… could the ending have been EVEN BETTER?

I think so. Frankly I wanted to see Kirk and God duke it out. It might have been one of the few times Kirk was faced with an actual challenge – the two most powerful entities in the universe getting stuck into each other would have looked great on the big screen! I also would have liked to see Kirk get into a fight with the Klingon Bird of Prey. Would have Kirk’s fists been enough to take down a heavily armed and armoured alien intergalactic battleship? Personally I have faith they would have been up to the challenge, but I guess now we’ll never know.

Kirk vs Spaceship – lets get ready to rumble!

So yes, while many prefer the later Star Trek shows and movies, with Picard constantly drinking Earl Grey tea and Janeway talking to others about their feelings instead of, you know, making some tough decisions and actually getting her crew home quick, I shall always be a fan of the Original Series. And the last half hour of Star Trek V, where you get to see Kirk face off against the The Almighty himself and put the smack down, should be treasured by all those fans of Trek.

God something to say about this classic piece of cinematic history? Pop it in the comments section below!

Related Article:

Movie Review – Star Trek Beyond

Big Angry Trev!

How 20 Years of being an Adult Collector began

Toys Review – Studio Series Hot Rod & Scourge

Toys Review – Galactic Odyssey Ratchet & Lifeline

Big DJ Trev is back on the Radio!

Toy Review – Cyberverse Iaconus

Game Review – Transformers Battlegrounds

Toy Review – EX-01 Nicee

Meat Recipe #14 – Trev’s Prawn Paella

Star Trek V: Kirk vs God

Join the Trevolution!