In what can be only be described as an impressive feat of electronic labour, Australian Transformer fan and prolific youtuber DrLockdown has created a video showcasing everysinglefigure from the War for Cybertron Trilogy. That’s right – every single toy from Siege, Earthrise and Kingdom is discussed in one video with an impressive runtime of over 4 hours – bring some popcorn kiddies!
But not only has DrLockdown completed this impressive task, he did so while including many of your favourite Transformer youtubers! Yes, literally dozens of Transformer reviewers contributed, discussing specific figures that they enjoyed from the War for Cybertron trilogy. And while many of these youtubers are from abroad, there is some home-grown Aussie talent in there as well, including Toy Reel and yours truly.
So get in your favourite comfy seat, crack an energon cube, sit back and enjoy DrLockdown’s impressive video: EVERY War For Cybertron Trilogy Figure.
Oh, and if you want to be a bit naughty and find my particular contribution, keep an eye out for review #23 near the end of the vid where I discuss a certain fiery fellow and his little friend 😉
If you would like to see more of DrLockdown’s reviews, you can check out all the other great videos on his youtube channel here.
The short-lived Season 4 of the US Transformers cartoon introduced (or perhaps jammed in is a more accurate term) a slew of new characters in its 3 episodes. Notably very few of these characters had Earth modes, showing the direction the brand was heading in. Also new concepts were introduced in these episodes such as Targetmasters and Clones.
Three (or should I say four) of these characters were the Autobot ClonesFastlane and Cloudraker and the Decepticon TargetmasterSlugslinger with his diminutive partner Caliburst. Lucky for these characters, the G1 cartoon continuity in Japan continued with the series Headmasters, in which these guys got a far greater outing.
As the characters were more prominent in Japan, I decided to get the Legends versions of all these guys, so today we will be looking at LG55 Slugslinger with Caluburst and LG58 Autobot Clones Fastlane & Cloudraker.
Slugslinger
Robot Mode
As can be expected with most Takara Tomy versions of Hasbro figures, Slugslinger comes with a rich vibrant painjob that looks fantastic. They really have done a marvellous job of making Slugslinger very G1 comic/cartoon accurate, right down to the shape of the legs, the chest adornments and the dual cockpits sticking up over his shoulders. The Headmaster figure looks great with a smooth rounded forehead, settting it apart from most ‘blockheads’.
Schizophrenia – Cybertron style
Cybertronian Dual-Cockpit Fighter Jet Mode
‘Didn’t Starscream blow me up in Season 2?’
As Sluslinger transformers into dual-cockpit jet he does not even try to conform to earth standards. Once again, a great job of replicating (and dare I say improving) on the original toy design and concept. His Headmaster fits snugly and easily into the cockpit (a bit odd he already had two and they had to put in a 3rd) and Caliburst can be put under either wing. However I find that makes the alt-mode look off balance so I tend to place him on top of the jet like the G1 cartoon and toy.
Noice! Just not aerodynamic
Caliburst
Robot Mode
“Go on, spend the extra money – you know you want me!”
Wow – this little guy really makes me wish I had shelled out the extra money to get the Tak/Tom versions of the other TR Targemaster characters. Well proportioned, nicely coloured and lots of detail in the little face – very good!
Gun Mode
Engine or Gun?
It’s a cool looking gun and is well scaled to Slugslinger in robot mode. However I would say that with the flats of the robots feet joining up at the front makes the gun look like it would be a major airflow impediment when attached to Slugslingers jet mode, creating a lot of drag.
The Clones
Cloudraker
Robot Mode
‘No kibble here pal!’
Looks exactly like the G1 version, though the JP G1 rather than the US G1 due to the more pinkish body. In my opinion he is how the clones should look, as in no hint of alt-mode so you can’t tell what they are going to turn into (except for that damn big sticker on the chest of course).
Cybertronian Space Jet Mode
Snug
Much more compact than the original toy, which I was quite the fan of. He actually looks like he was designed for space which works well for him, though I do miss the yellow on the nosecone and longer black wings of the G1 figure.
Fastlane
Robot Mode
“I’ve got no kibble either” “LIAR!”
Though I loved the original toys when I had them as a kid, one thing that bugged me was that you could always tell Fastlane was the ground vehicle clone because of the wheels and spoiler obvious over his shoulderblades. Not only have they not rectified this but have made it worse with wheels visible on the legs as well.
Cybertronian Dragster Mode
No awards for the ‘best alt mode’ here
I think the front wheels on the side are an improvement rather than the old single one underneath. Something I felt that the G1 toy could have benefitted from was some colour to show the grill and headlight details on the front of the vehicle that were made up of the tips of the robot modes feet. Those details aren’t even present here which was a letdown. With wheels on the side he looks a bit better than the G1 toy but it’s still a pretty weak vehicle mode.
Cloudraker and Fastlane – The Clone Concept
‘One of these kids is not like the other’
As mentioned Fastlane’s obvious kibble really detracts from the ‘you can’t tell which clone is which’ concept. When I saw their little jet and car symbols on their chests I thought ‘Oh cool! Rubsigns!’, figuring that since it was a hot day they must already be heated. Imagine my disappointment when I found they were just stickers, which means you can permanently tell one from the other.
Stuff ya clone concept!
The other disappointment here is that neither bot comes with his dual hand weapons. Given the cost of the figures, I think it’s a bit lousy for them to not come with their guns, especially since they could be used in either mode by the original figures.
Overall
Slugslinger is fantastic and as stated, really makes me wish I’d gone the Tak/Tom route with his compatriots. If you don’t have the Hasbro version go online and grab him – Caliburst makes it well worth the few extra bucks. As for the clones, I ordered these from Japan since the Hasbro versions of both clones were only available at US stores and I live in Australia. Cloudraker is OK but Fastlane is fairly weak, so unless you are like me and want every Classicsverse version of every G1 character you can get, these two are an easy pass.
Got anything to add to this review? Would love to read it in the comments section below!
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
Dig those shoulders man!
Robot Mode
Have at ye!
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.
En’Guarde!
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
Sushi-chopper not included
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
‘I have an alt-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
‘Guess what noise I make’
Robot Mode
‘They took ma hands!’
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.
‘BEEFCAKE!’
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!
