Tag Archives: Autobot

Toy Review: Cyberverse Prowl

March 20, 2019 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

Cyberverse has been trotting out a lot of characters that originated in G1. Some of these toys could be considered an improvement on their originators, others have been woefully compromised by putting in half-arsed gimmicks (such as Acid Storm’s Toxic Slice) and being overly simplified for Warrior-Class toys.

Today we look at a character that has only cropped up in a couple of flashbacks so far in the Cyberverse cartoon, but has still warranted a toy. We look at the Autobot cop bots love to hate, we look at Prowl.

Robot Mode

A nicely proportioned figure. Much more reminiscent of G1 Prowl than either the Animated or RID(01) figures before, which are the last two times Prowl got a cartoon outing. He has ok elbow and knee movement, but all but no side movement when it comes to the shoulders or hips. He lacks neck articulation too so Prowl had better hope he is facing whoever he is fighting!

The head sculpt on Prowl looks really good here, both in the face and also his helmet horns. I quite like the stars on the shoulders too. However I find his legs quite bland and they could have used a lot more detail.

The biggest disappointment is the huge panel on the back of his head, makes him look like he is carrying the back of a chair on his shoulders. This can be mitigated somewhat by his gimmick move, which we will shortly see.

Robot Battle Mode

By pushing down on the front of Prowl’s chest, you make his shuolder cannons come down to do his ‘Jetblast’ move. Why this is called a jetblast I have no idea, I think they must have just picked a term at random. Anyways, the cannons pop down, making the back of Prowl not look nearly as bad, in fact I’m not sure why anyone would display Prowl otherwise. Also for once we are seeing a gimmick that does not compromise the toy to any great extent.

Vehicle Mode

A nicely proportioned police car. Note sure if you can tell from the photos but it is worthy of note that Prowl is not sporting his usual black but rather a very dark blue, much like Barricade in The Last Knight. It kinda suits him and modernizes him to look like police cars you would actually find on patrol in the US, rather than an old fashioned Sherrifs patrol car. Like the robot mode, this vehicle would look a lot better with some more detail put in, the very front of the car looks good but the rest is severely plain, somewhat like RID(15) Strongarm.

Battle Vehicle Mode

Not on the box and not in the instructions, but you can transform Prowl so that his guns stick out of the windscreen and rest of the bonnet, much like the G1 Triggercon Crankcase. My son discovered this so full credit to the young fella! You do this by simply not folding Prowl’s shoulder cannons back up when transforming him, this in no way affects the rest of the transformation or the formation of the vehicle mode. While it doesn’t look brilliant, it will add a lot of play value for younger fans who want to send their vehicles into battle.

Transformation

Like all the Cyberverse figures, the transformation is very simplistic. Great for younger fans but will not hold much interest for your older Transfan.

So worth a buy?

If you are after a more complex, visually pleasing and articulated Prowl then I recommend waiting until the new one in the SEIGE toyline is released (though that one lacks shoulder cannons). However if you are a collector of Prowl’s like I am, or a fan of the cartoon, or even simply looking for a toy for a younger kid, then this Prowl is worth a go.

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

Related Articles:

Toys Review: Cyberverse Shockwave & Grimlock

Toys Review: Cyberverse Acid Storm

Transformer Toy Reviews

Toys Review – WFC: Siege – Micromasters: Wave 1

January 4, 2019 Big Angry Trev 1 Comment

Back in the late 80’s the Transformers brand was starting to suffer. Something new had to be tried. So in direct reaction to the popularity of Micro Machines, the Transformers made Micromasters. These were actually pretty cool little toys! You could get them in packs of 4 or 6, some had bases, some could combine, and they were pretty cheap to get. I know for myself I collected most of the Decepticon ones to try and even out the amount of each faction I had as a kid, having to track down the Autobot ones as an adult. Micromasters got a brief revival in the Universe line in 2003, but didn’t grab the toy consumers imagination.

Here we are in 2019 and Micromasters are back! And the first wave of the War For Cybertron: Seige line is made up of 3 pairs, each pair making up half the members of their original patrol team. So lets have a look at some classic G1 characters, most we haven’t seen in 30 years!

BATTLE PATROL

Flak & Topshot

Robot Modes

Flak is so unchanged from his G1 incarnation that I had to look twice to make sure it was a new figure. Topshot (formerly Big Shot) also represents his G1 heritage well. Both have far more detail in their faces and their bodies overall. Both have knees but no elbows or head swivel.

Vehicle Modes

Once again Flak looks very much like he did in G1, though with some cooler details on his missile ports. Topshot has lost a bit of length from his turret (maybe that’s why he had to change his name) but this is made up for by being able to swivel the gun up and from side to side with a great degree of control than the G1 toy allowed. Both get top marks!

Weapon Mode

Topshot becomes the back half with his turret becoming the gun peg, with Flak making up the front to become an oversized missile gun. Looks a bit odd being held by a Deluxe Sized figure, but would suit a Voyager sized bot well.

AIR STRIKE PATROL

Visper & Storm Cloud

Robot Modes

Visper (formerly Whisper) has a nice amount of detail and looks quite good. Storm Cloud is odd as in he is the only figure out of this entire wave of Micromasters that has elbows, yet at the same time he lacks hands. An odd trade off. Besides this Storm Cloud does however look good otherwise.

Vehicle Modes

Both Visper and Storm Cloud are both very faithful to their G1 origins, while adding a bit of extra detail to their jet forms that one would expect after a 30 year hiatus.

Weapon Mode

Quite a decent looking sword, nicely balanced and well proportioned. Yes Visper is still obviously completely in jet mode but Armada’s the Star Sabre set the precedent for that. Very cool!

RACE CAR PATROL

Roadhandler & Swindler

Robot Modes

Swindler had shoulders that put Ultra Magnus to shame, and its hard with the lack of elbows to position his arms anywhere but down that doesn’t cause him to fall over. Roadhandler looks quite decent. Both suffer from having massive holes in their chests which are required for the weapon mode.

Vehicle Mode

Swindler still resembles a Delorian, which is great for us of the generation that grew up on Back to the Future movies. Once again, Roadhandler looks decent as well.

Weapon Mode

Pretty weak. You simply fold over the back of the car and insert the other car on top to make a weapon that sorta resembles the Double Targetmaster ones from G1. The only slightly redeeming feature is that they are the only pair that can swap spots, so either character can become the top or bottom half.

Worth Getting?

Yup! A cheap price point, an outing for G1 characters we haven’t seen in 30 years, very faithful to their origins and now with combined weapon modes. There are a few drawbacks sure: little articulation, the legs come off really easily on all figures and whilst you can combine the different teams bots to make new weapons, only a few of them look decent and are better off with their original partner. However these are small quibbles. I heartily recommend picking these guys up and really hope that the other halves of their teams get released in the future.

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

Transformer Toy Reviews

Toy Review – POTP Inferno

November 26, 2018 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

Finally we seem to be getting some of the Wave 3 figures from the Power of the Primes toyline on Australian shelves, a long wait for many of us who no longer do our shopping overseas online due to the GST. There is only one Voyager class figure in this wave and it’s a character that had their last Generations toy come out a full 10 years ago – everyone’s favorite firetruck – Inferno.

Robot Mode

Inferno has received a new head along the lines of his G1 incarnation. This is predominantly the reason I ended up picking him up as otherwise he would have looked like either Hot Spot or Pyra Magna/Megaempress. He comes with Hot Spots two guns which he can either hold in his hands, or be attached to the gestalt feet and then his back to form shoulder cannons. The box artwork shows him having a windshield on his chest like his other incarnations, however the toy itself looks like every other character that shares the mould and has chest armour instead. He is fairly tall and lanky which is at least kinda more reminiscent of his G1 heritage than the very stocky Universe version.

Vehicle Mode

Like all others of the mould he transforms into a Rosenbauer Panther 6×6 Fire Truck. He has his big long white ladder back like the G1 version which I believe is an improvement over the water cannon the Universe and Energon versions sported. However he is so long in this mode you can’t help but think ‘This is Hot Spot cosplaying as Inferno’. His guns from robot mode can be affixed to the base of the ladder, giving Inferno some alt-mode combat options.

Combiner Mode

I haven’t bothered to combine him here since he doesn’t even have a name for his gestalt mode. At first I thought has been slight retooling from the Defensor version with a visor instead of individual eyes but then I realise the yellow paint app had just gone over the nose. So really there is no difference except for the colour scheme. The combiner mode will add a lot of play value for younger fans, however for the GeeWun crew it’s hard to think of Inferno has a Gestalt torso (even if the Energon version was a combiner too) and he wont get much play in this capacity.

Worth Getting?

It’s a hard call. In some ways this version of Inferno is superior to the Universe version that came out a decade ago. However in some ways he is inferior too. If you have the Universe version of Inferno as well as any other version of this particular toy mould then this Inferno figure is an easy pass. But on the whole it is still a good toy, a decent representation of the character and the combiner gimmick will be fun for many. For the most part though I think I’ll be playing with my Masterpiece version more.

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

Related Articles

Toy Review – Masterpiece Inferno

Toy Review – Unite Warriors Megatronia

Games & Competitions, Transformatorium

Review – Metroplex Pack: Transformers TCG

November 9, 2018 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

A few months ago the Transformers: Trading Card Game was released. Much like Magic: The Gathering, this game focuses on using different characters whom you instil with different defences, attacks and upgrades, to take out the opposing team, all whilst taking advantage of their own unique abilities.

Now, not long after it’s release, we have the first committed deck since the Starter Pack – the Metroplex Deck. Due for international release on November 16^th, this deck appears to offer a whole new element to what is quickly becoming a popular and addictive game.

Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro have been kind enough to send me for free both the Starter Pack as well as the new Metroplex Deck so as to do a review on this blog. It should be noted that I have received no financial remuneration to write this, nor have either company tried to dictate the content of my review. So I’d like to thank Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro for their generosity.

Luckily for them, I’m pretty taken with these packs so their generosity might just get rewarded through subsequent honesty.

This review is focused primarily on the Metroplex Deck, and in writing this I make the assumption that in reading it you are already familiar with Transformers: TCG and the various gameplay strategies it entails. If not then by all means check out the official website to see how the game works, then come back to get all the new extra information here.

The Metroplex Deck offers the following:

*1 Titan Character Card: METROPLEX

*3 Character Cards: SCAMPER, SIX-GUN and SLAMMER

*Ready to play Battle Deck of 40 Cards

New Characters

Now the first thing you will notice is the Metroplex Card. It is HUGE! 19.5cm x 14cm. Like the Transformers character it is based on, it dwarfs the regular character cards. And so do some of his stats:

Robot Mode – 6 Attack, 35 Health, 1 Defense

City mode – 4 Attack, 35 Health, 2 Defence

Now these Attack and Defence stats are pretty common but his Health is MASSIVE! The most a character has had up to this date has been 21 with Cosmos, and Metroplex outshines him by a full 14 points!

The other is his Stars. Each team can have a total of 25 Stars spread over their character cards, which usually dictates a team of 2 to 4 characters. However Metroplex has 25 on his own! This makes him a team unto himself. A team of one… or so it would seem.

Anyone familiar with the G1 cartoon and toy representations of Metroplex will remember he had 3 sidekicks. First Scamper who turned into a Cybertronian Battle Car, Six-Gun who would disassemble his robot form into Weapons useable by Metroplex, and Slammer who was a drone tank. All three are represented here. And all three are subordinate to Metroplex in a way we will examine shortly. However before doing so it is worth noting that these characters are useable in regular teams. With their relatively low 4 Star ratings, if you have a team made of 21 Stars, one of these guys is perfect to round up the numbers.

Character Abilities

Metroplex differs from other character cards in many respects, and not just by his size. Hidden underneath Metroplex are the three sidekick cards. Whenever you flip your Metroplex card from Robot to City side, he is able to deploy one of these characters. This makes flipping every opportunity you get essential, as you need to get him to robot mode and back again in order to deploy another character. This in of itself is perhaps more important than the almost inconsequential differences between the Attack and Defence stats of his two modes.

Each sidekick has different abilities. Slammer for instance, being a drone, has no robot mode and will deal out 1 Attack Damage to every enemy bot when first released. This makes him a favourite to bring out first in order to hurt as many enemy bots as possible before you KO any of them.

Scamper and Six-Gun’s various abilities rely on Metroplex still being on the board as they mainly power up his abilities. Whilst this makes them a boon to your main Metroplex card, it lessens their value considerably when being used in a team which does not contain the Titan.

Dedicated Battle Deck Cards

The Metroplex Deck is designed to be used by a single player against an opponent. As such it has dedicated cards that are of no use in a regular deck, but are very advantageous when using with this dedicated team.

Rally The City allows an extra card per character you have out (if you still have Metro on the board).

Height Advantage gives Bold 4 so when you use Metroplex to attack you get to flip 4 extra cards.

Protected by Metroplex means that you can transfer any damage being inflicted on your sidekick characters to Metroplex instead. Out of the three cards I found this one to be the most useful. Given Metroplex’s huge Health and the extremely poor Health of his Sidekicks (all pretty easy to knock out in a single round) it helps to keep these little guys on the playing field for an extra turn or two.

In Gameplay

I wont go into all the technicalities and ins and outs of using this deck against an opponent as there are just too many scenario’s to cover. However I can point out some trends I found when pitting the Metroplex Deck against a team made up of the Starter Pack:

*When playing the Basic Game (not using special abilities etc) which I played with my 5 year old son, the advantage tends to lean slightly in favour of Metroplex, even without his ability to deploy the smaller bots. His Health is just so massive, and combined with a 6 Attack Rating in robot mode, means you are able to withstand the onslaught he receives from being the only target on the board as you KO your opponent’s cards one by one. He is by no means invincible, but he is definitely hard to beat.

*When playing the Advanced Game which I played with a bunch of my nerd peers, surprisingly the advantage tends to lean slightly towards the opponent, even with you being able to deploy Scamper, Slammer and Six-Gun. Your opponent using the Special Abilities of cards means that your three smaller bots are often KO’ed as soon as they hit the board, with only a Protected by Metroplex card having a hope of saving them. You may find that your opponent often uses this strategy, going after the little guys as soon as they are able before focusing back on the big guy.

Also with more bots being on the opposing team, the opposition has the chance to have more Upgrade, Attack and Defence boosts in play as well as having a greater range of opportunities to use their characters synergistically with each other. Once again, it is by no means impossible to defeat your opponent, but it can be a hard road with a bit of luck required to take the win.

So is this Pack worth buying?

If you are a Transformers: TCG player then it is a most definite yes! The introduction of a Titan Card adds a whole new element of gameplay, and the pack comes with 4 characters and three action cards that you cannot purchase anywhere else. It would have been nice to see Trypticon released first (as I’m sure he eventually will be) as it means the two dedicated packs released thus far have all Autobots in them (the Starter Pack containing Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Red Alert and Ironhide). Part of the fun of anything remotely Transformers is pitting Autobot against Decepticon and I actually went out and purchased some Booster Packs just so I could play out some of these scenarios (luckily for me I scored both Starscream and Megatron). I would also have liked to see Scamper and Six-Gun have at least one inherent ability each which would be useful within a regular team that does not involve Metroplex, giving these characters more scope for play.

However despite the onus still being on the Autobot side, this pack is definitely worth picking up. I look forward to its general release in a week in the hopes one of my friends picks one up so that I can battle Metroplex Deck against Metroplex Deck – now that truly will be a clash of the titans!

Got anything to say about this Expansion Pack? Would love to read it in the comments section below!

Transformatorium, Transformer Toy Reviews

Toy Review – POTP Punch/Counterpunch

October 11, 2018 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

The original G1 Punch/Counterpunch was a very cool toy with a very cool concept! Whereas all Triple-Changers in the past had two vehicle modes this toy had two robot modes. He was an Autobot that could not only turn into a Pontiac Fiero , but also transform into a Decepticon in order to act as a spy! Despite his abysmal appearance in Season 4 of the cartoon, the toy was so cool that it proved extremely popular, and lead to Doubledealer expanding upon the concept the following year.

We have only had one new version of this character since then, the Timelines version that was released several years ago (I don’t count the subsequent Counterpunch based on a CW mold since he only had one robot mode). While that toy was good, it was let down primarily by a small and weird looking head and of course a very limited release. Fans have been awaiting a new toy that could do this unique character justice.

Well wait no more, for now we have the Amazon exclusive Power of the Primes Punch/Counterpunch. Let’s take a look and see if it was worth the wait.

Vehicle Mode

*Sexy… as long as my doors don’t pop off*

One of the appeals of Punch is he was one of the very few Transformers released in 1987 that had an Earth alt-mode (the others being the Throttlebots and new Decepticon Cassettes) when the line was moving heavily into Cybertronian and/or Creature modes. The vehicle mode has been faithfully redone here, down to the red hubcaps.

The arms/shoulder come misassembled which means that the arms don’t tab properly when you are folding the doors over to make his car mode. This is apparently easily repaired though I haven’t gotten around to it yet, I’ve found with sufficient (yet carefully applied) force that you can tab the doors properly, though they come back loose with the slightest knock. When I get around to making the repair I will post the method here, much like I did with the problem regarding Trypticons hip.

Punch Mode

*I’m a heroic Autobot – check out my orange chest!*

Excellent colours, well proportioned, good articulation, an orange gun – what more could one ask for! Well, perhaps some feet. But he balances quite well all the same and really puts the Timelines version to shame. You can fold down a tab on his back to hide the Decepticon symbol located there.

Counterpunch

*I’m an evil Decepticon – check out my purple kneepads!*

Like the original toy, you turn this figure around, adjust the set of the shoulders, flip the helmet and viola – instant Decepticon! Like his Autobot version you can flip a tab on his back to hide the other factions symbol and he also lacks feet. Additionally what he lacks is a blaster of his own. In my opinion it helped differentiate the two robot modes with the original toy by each having its own gun. Since Counterpunch looks weird holding Punch’s gun, I give him the otherwise useless combiner appendage (since this toy does NOT combine) as a sort of black shield. Still on the whole he looks excellent, you can even flip the hands around so they are different colours!

Prima Prime

*I am the leader of the Original 13 Primes! Check out the power contained in my tiny, tiny body!*

You can turn him into a box and stick him in the shield – that’s all I can say about this figure, except perhaps he has some cool pipelighting from the back the other POTP Primes lack. But I don’t like the concept as a whole and find them mostly useless little figures just waiting to get lost – give us some proper figures of the Original 13 more than just the likes of Alpha Trion and Megatronus.

So is this figure worth getting?

As long as you can afford the bigger (but not gigantic) price tag I’d say definitely yes, especially if you are a G1 fan! 3 great modes, a few accessories and a cool collectors box – he is good quality and a lot of fun! Now we can simply hope this toy prompts the character appearance in the upcoming IDW reboot of the Transformers universe.

Got anything to say about this figure? Would love to read it in the comments section below!

Related Articles:

POTP Terrorcons – Wave 1

POTP Unicronus and Primal

POTP Dinobots

Transformatorium, Transformer Toy Reviews

Toys Review – The Last Knight: Steelbane, Cogman & Sqweeks

October 23, 2017 Big Angry Trev 3 Comments

When the first live action Transformers movie was released a decade ago, I went a bit nuts when the toys were first released. The first day I saw them I horrified my girlfriend by coming home with two full garbage bags of action figures and a $700 dent in my bank account.

Now here we are at movie five and restraint is much easier. For the first time I am not buying a toy of every character that was in the movie. Who needs yet another Bbee camero? So I’m buying toys only of new characters that showed up in the flick, saving me both cash and shelf space.

Thankfully I was able to put restraint on hold the other day when I finally came across some of these new characters in toy form. So lets take a look at three new Autobots to grace the silver screen and subsequently get turned into toy-candy – Steelbane, Cogman and Sqweeks.

Steelbane

Robot Mode

Steelbane was one of those generic Knights of Cybertron to show up in the flick, and you would be hard pressed to single him out when watching the movie. I will say I am quite impressed with the look of Steelbane in robot mode – perhaps the most knight-esque Transformer I’ve ever seen! Really looks like he should be guarding a tomb for centuries and then coming to life to scare the shit out of Lara Croft. However the look of this toy is the best thing about him. The shoulder and leg balljoints are very loose, making him very hard to pose. This is made up for somewhat by the fact he has tight neck and elbow joints so you can at least give him the odd cool pose. Comes with a sword with lots of little detail on it and the wings folded behind serve to give him a look as though he is wearing a chainmail cape. So visually he looks great, playwise he is a bit of a letdown.

Dragon Mode

*This is what happens when your alpaca mates with a raven and a washing machine*

Frankly pretty crap. The loose balljoints make him even harder to pose in beast mode than robot mode. The chest does not sit flush with the main body and while I appreciate the little detail of the red tongue, it actually detracts from the dragons head when you open the mouth wider. I found the transformation to beast mode quite fiddly as well; his secondary mode is so ill defined and the instructions were not particularly useful. I ended up just looking at the back of the box and fiddling with the figure until he represented that pic.

Cogman

Robot Mode

Typical – we finally get a Transformer in one of the movies who gets a lot of lines and screen time and he never even transforms! Well thankfully they released some toys of him that do. There is a fantastic looking one with a headmaster gimmick, however since he never did it in the film I went the cheaper 1-step option. I don’t usually like 1-step changers, I find them very overpriced for the simplistic figure you get. However since I don’t want to spend a fortune importing a transforming Cogman I was happy enough to get this representation of him. They did the colour scheme and in particular the head quite well and he doesn’t look too bad at all. Just a shame that he has no knees and his legs are so chunky.

Vehicle Mode

Cogman transforms into an Aston Martin DB11, which he did get behind the wheel of in the movie if memory serves. He achieves this in toy mode by a simple twist of the legs. A nice little car, though a better paintjob wouldn’t have hurt.

Sqweeks

Robot Mode

This little guy was supposed to be the ultra-cute new bot of Transformers 5. But R2-D2 he aint and he never really captured our hearts. However if there is to be a movie toy that will garner your affection – it’ll be this little guy! While his robot mode initially looks as lackluster as the character did onscreen (though I do did all the rust in his paintjob) , it’s all his little mods that make the toy.

He has several options, he can use his little cargo trailer from his alt-mode (which we will come to momentarily) to have a sort of rocket backpack, or you can remove his little handlebar hands to affix a big arm and the huge cannon he wielded in one of the final movie fight scenes.

Vehicle Mode

Not a bad looking scooter. Well, it is a bad looking scooter I guess but it’s supposed to be so on that level it really works. The transformation to scooter is fairly straight forward but I find it helps to cheat a little and remove his handlebar hands and his head. This detracts nothing from his alt-mode and saves potential scratches to your toy by jamming everything in.

His cargo-trailer really makes the toy! It can be attached to the back which adds a lot of bulk to the toy, and then altered into a battle mode replete with cannons and guns enough to freak out the strongest Con. It also transforms into one of the coolest little maintenance bays I’ve seen this side of G1 Optims, with a toolbox to store spare parts and a very maneuverable robotic arm. Very cool indeed!

Overall

They never really seem to hit their stride with the movie toys do they? Many of the ROTF figures were fantastic but since then we’ve had DOTM which had toys too complicated and AoE whose toys were too simple. So far none of the TLK figures are massively impressive. So unless you really want representations of the new movieverse characters both Steelbane and Cogman are both easy passes. However do yourself a favour and go pick up a Sqweeks. It’s a really cool toy with lots of play value and by far one of the most enjoyable movie figures I have played with. Small on screen but big on fun!

Got something to add to the review above? Would love to read it in the comments section below!

Related Articles

Movie Review – Transformers: The Last Knight

Transformer Toy Reviews

Toy Review – RID Twinferno

September 8, 2017 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Well to be honest we don’t bloody know what it’s supposed to be! Let’s try to find out together dear readers as we examine Deluxe Sized, Robots In Disguise: Combiner Force Twinferno (a double mouthful eh!)

*Try and find which ‘Year of the…’ this figure represents*

Robot Mode

A basic enough looking robot. Like all other ~~Doublecross~~ Twinferno toys you have the dragon heads as the hands which always looks cool. The red is too garish and makes his head blend in with the rest of his body too much. You can swivel the head to pose him in different positions but his shoulders are that high that it looks weird unless he is really looking forward. The flame pieces can be placed in the dragon heads to make them look like they are breathing fire. They can also be put in the holes under the dragon’s chins but this doesn’t really look great.

Alt-Mode

*‘What am I? I’m having a double-identity crisis!’*

Ok, what the hell is this supposed to be? Did G1 Doublecross and G2 Dreadwing smoke some bad Energon one night and come up with this weird amalgamation of themselves, with Tony Stark coming in at the last minute and saying “throw a bit of Hot Rod red in there”? I mean seriously – this thing is weird! It’s not a stealth bomber (definitely not with that colour scheme!) and it’s not a twin-headed dragon. Instead it’s a weird Fuzor-esque hybrid of the two that looks like it’s out of some weird futuristic Chinese mythology. I guess if you imagined it in real life it would be kinda badass, a bomber flying over the city with two dragon heads hanging off the front writhing and spewing flames, and indeed the heads/necks are maneuverable in this mode. The flames are supposed to come out the back to show his speed, but once again you can put them coming out of the mouth.

*‘It’s a medical condition – don’t you judge me!’*

Transformation

Like all RID toys this figure is almost insultingly easy which makes it great for a young kid but certainly lessens the appeal for the older collectors.

Worth your money?

It seems that obscure characters get these little resurgences sometimes. A few years ago it was Guzzle who was showing up in the Movie and Kre-O lines as well as the IDW comics. Now its ~~Doublecross~~ Twinferno showing up in the Titans Return, Tiny Titans and RID lines. Odd actually that the Tiny Titans version, despite being a subline of RID, is based on the G1/TR version. Speaking of which, if you want a cool modern representation of this character then I would definitely go the Titans Return version which is twin heads and shoulders above this one.

Got something to say about this toy? Would love to read it in the comments section below!

Related Articles

Toys Review: Combiner Force Blurr, Windblade & Soundwave

Toys Review: RID Decepticon Deployers

Games & Competitions, Transformatorium

Elita One Mouse Pad

August 27, 2017 Big Angry Trev 10 Comments

Back in May we had a look at the two first wrist-rest mouse pads made with a Transformers theme, those being modeled after Acree and Windblade respectively.

Most people, whether they liked them or were horrified by them, were none the less fascinated and speculated whether there would be any more. Now a few months later we have our answer. Another femmebot has let her form grace the pad so that Transfans and netnerds everywhere can click away without thier poor wrists getting sore, that femmebot being Elita One.

Elita One is looking just as buxom as her femmebot comrades here. Once again we have the soft silicone at the bottom that feels quite smooth to the touch and the top gives you plenty of room to manuver your mouse around when you are looking up websites about, er, morality and self-denial.

*‘Sigh… if I want to lie flat, it always has to be on my back’*

I actually do really like the artwork here. There hasn’t been a massive amount of artwork of Elita One. She has been in IDW for the past couple of years as a warrior space captain, often depicted with her damaged helmet and sitting upon her throne made up of the skeletal remains of the previous ships leaders. Even without the ‘wrist rest’ parts this is a far softer depiction of her and a nice change of pace.

*From the neck up you can actually focus on the great facial artwork rather than the… hoodmeat.*

But of course all the rationalization in the world wont get you away from the fact that this is a booby-pad – designed to appeal to a combination of Transfan and Mazophiliac. Once again, you can leave it in the packaging so that you can hang it on the walls to impress your friends and family if you wish.

Related Article: Transformers Wrist Rest Mouse Pads

Competition Time!

When the first two of these mouse pads appeared online a lot of people speculated which character would come next, the majority believing it would be Beast Wars Blackarachnia, especially given her comic art from her Legends toy. But since we got Elita One instead we are back to wondering – who will be next?

Here is the competition. In the comments section below list 5 femmebots you would like to see given the wrist-rest mouse pad treatment. If your list of 5 turn out to be the next five made, even if not in the same order, you win a prize! I’ll sort out the prizes when the time comes since it will depend on how many winners there are and what – heh – what could be considered acceptable in their households, but it will definitely be femmebot related.

Competition Update: Well done to Jazzcomp, Raider, DH, MayzaPrime, David, Jazz1984 & Kaijuguy. Blackarachnia was the next Mouse Pad released so you are all still in the running for a prize! Hopefully there wont be such a delay before the next Mouse Pad is released.

Until that day, Until all look like Elita One – happy clicking!

*‘Optimus! Did you commission this “sculpture” of me?!’*

Random Reviews, Transformatorium

Movie Review – Transformers: The Last Knight

June 21, 2017 Big Angry Trev 1 Comment

Here we are – the fifth installment of the live-action Transformers movie franchise.

These movies have caused a lot of debate over the years. Many of the critics and your more traditional Transformer fans have hated them – citing such things as poor plots, juvenile jokes and lack of characterization. However the general public has loved them – all four previous movies still remaining in the top 100 highest grossing movies of all time.

So will Transformers: The Last Knight fare any better than the previous four with the die-hards? Let’s find out!

Oh, and SPOILER ALERT! This is a movie review – so if you haven’t seen the flick yet and don’t want to know what happens, read no further (but please do come back after watching I implore you).

This movie picks up not long after the events of Transformers 4, and unlike that movie brings back a lot of what happened in Transformers 3 as well. The Transformers are still all hated and hunted by the human governments, yet they keep arriving. Most of the Autobots are living in a junkyard which they periodically leave as they try to find more of their lost brethren with the help of Cade. Megatron (Galvatron being just a phase he was going through) is enacting plans with the help of his henchman Barricade and Optimus Prime is off in space trying to find the creators of his race so he can put the smack down. Oh, and the new plot has flashbacks of Merlin dealing with a bunch of Cybertronian knights that can combine into a 3-headed space dragon – now there is a twist that not a lot of movies can boast eh!

The first half of this movie advances these plot lines. Megatron does a hostage swap of some humans in order to get some of his captured crew back from the military. Cade and the Autobots hiding out unwillingly adopt a 14 year old orphan girl and Optimus lands on Cybertron to meet Quintessa, his creator. Soon conflict (and Bayesque explosions) come into play. Megatron (tracked by the military) finds the Autobots and has a scrap, most of his henchmen we had only just met being killed in the process. Quintessa brainwashes Optimus into becoming Nemesis Prime and sets the broken planet of Cybertron (which got royally f’ed up at the end of TF3 by a spacebridge explosion) on a course to Earth to siphon its energy to make the metallic husk pull itself back together. We also get introduced to two new plot lines: The first is that Anthony Hopkins rocks and has a bunch of old Autobots at his disposal (including a quite psychotic character named Cogman) and is trying to figure out the whole Merlin angle. The second is that, like the TFPrime cartoon, Earth actually is Unicron and he is extending his horns out through various parts of the planet!

Phew – that’s a lot going on eh?

To prevent this they…..

…you know what, bugger it – if I list the 8 millions plot twists this review is going to become a novel! Chances are if you are reading this you have seen the movie and know what happens! So how about I save us all a bit of time and go on a few pro’s and cons eh?

PRO’S

*Lots of explosions

*Tons of action

*Nice boobs for the boys, nice ab’s for the girls

*Anthony Hopkins was awesome

*Cogman was funny

*A good variety of different robots

*Great fight scenes

*Expanded the movie lore

*Genuinely funny moments

*At least some characterization of Decepticons

*The action was not too close up and frenzied so you could actually tell what was going on most of the time

*Cullen and Welker reprised their roles as Optimus and Megatron respectively

*A Transformer clock killed Hitler

*Autobots, Decepticons, Quintessons, Combiners, Cybertron and Unicron!

CON’S (no, not those Cons)

*Bumblebee coming apart and coming back together contradicted a lot of TF deaths from the previous movies

*So many Transformers didn’t actually transform! Grimlock, ~~Slag~~ Slug, the baby Dino’s, Cogman, Wheelie, Sqweeks, whoever the female submarine was etc. It was like reading an IDW comic!

*A lot of the Transformers that did transform never did it on screen, such as Optimus himself.

*Contradictions in plot

*Too much human focus

*Hot Rod is french?!

So overall, is this movie worth watching? Well I’d have to say yes. All the people that complain about the Transformer movies would do well to remember that these flicks are based on a cartoon from the 80’s about shape-changing alien robots fighting a civil war. It’s not supposed to move you and make you cry – it’s supposed to entertain you! In that regard Transformers: The Last Knight certainly delivers the goods! It (like all the others) is a long movie but I can’t say there was any point where I was bored and frankly I found the whole movie quite fun! It’s not a movie you are supposed to take too seriously and I think some of the critics and die-hard fans need to remember that sometimes. Overall I’d say that this was not as good as TF1, about on par or slightly better than 3 & 4 and much better than 2. I had a great time watching it with a half dozen mates and I can’t wait to see what happens with the Unicron angle in number 6!

This movie gets 4 out of 5 energon cubes.

Got something to say about the movie? Would love to read it in the comments section below!

Transformer Multiverse Toy Galleries

Multiverse Blurr Toys Gallery

May 6, 2017 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

The sixth of my Multiverse galleries. Blurr first showed up in the 86′ toyline and animated movie. We had to until Armada to get another version of him but since then the speedster has taken off once again!

For my review of Titans Return Blurr see HERE

For my review of Combiner Force Blurr see HERE

Individual Figure Pic’s