mikeszekely

I have Game Pass for PC, so I figured I'd give it a go. Took around three hours to download, and I'm running it at 4K with the bells and whistles. FRAPS says I'm getting just over 30fps.(I'm running an i7-9700K, 16GB of RAM, a GeForce RTX 2080, and even though I chose to install the game on my D: drive it only put the couple hundred MB installer there. Once I launched it it downloaded the other hundred GB to my C: drive, which is an NVMe SSD). I haven't played much, though. I don't have a good flight stick, just a very old Logitech Extreme 3D Pro I bought for TIE Fighter. I can't tell if it's a problem with the stick or the calibration or if I just suck at it, but I can't seem to get the plane to fly level. No matter how I adjust my speed and trim I'm always going either up or down, and always rolling a little. But if I'm being honest, I'm not that the "game" is actually any fun. Could be because I'm already kind of frustrated with the controls, but flying from one airport to another in real time just seems tedious. But hey, the new Battletoads is also on Game Pass, so I guess I'll check that out next.

I got an email from Hasbro Pulse with preorder links, but they don't seem to be working. They show as being available until you try to check out, then they're suddenly out of stock (and I don't think they actually sold out that fast). EDIT: Nope, it's showing up as sold out now. Apparently people really want a brown Ramjet. I'm always up for Seekers so I want to get Sandstorm. I think I'm passing on Megatron. Not because I hate the mold; @M'Kyuun is definitely pointing out legitimate negatives but I do kind of like the more down-to-earth tank mode and I'm definitely in for the regular Earthrise release. No, I'm passing on Megatron because the robot is still G1 Megatron in G2 colors, and I want a proper G2 Megatron (c'mon, they could even repaint it purple as Hero Megatron/Archforce!).

Slammer may not be high-profile, but he (and a better Scamper) have been super high on my want list six Cog and Sixgun turned up in Siege.

So more leaks from Walmart today... Deluxe: HUFFER Pipes Wheeljack Tracks Shadow Panther Waspinator Airrazor Slammer Wingfinger Leader: Galvatron So I guess you're getting your wish. I have to admit, I'm curious to see what they do with Waspinator. I thought the Thrilling 30 version was pretty good already. Oh, and there's rumors there's going to be some kind of Generations Selects event tomorrow. A leaked image shows a G2 Sandstorm (which is not a repaint of G1 Sandstorm, but a desert camo version of Ramjet).

Not in the Walmart leak, but the Target leak has a Leader-class Galvatron.

@M'Kyuun I just want it to be bigger than Generations and less awful than CW.

Listings are starting to show up in Walmart computers that seem to corroborate the earlier Target stuff. Deluxe Cheetor, Warpath, and Black Arachnia Core Optimus Prime and Rattrap Voyager Optimus Primal and Cyclonus Leader Optimus Prime* and T-Rex Megatron *Leader Optimus is listed as "PR," which probably means "package refresh." That is, it's probably Earthrise Optimus again, just in Kingdom packaging.

I noticed at checkout that it said something about the box showing what it was, so I clicked the "this is a gift" option. Mine came packed in a brown box with a gift receipt.

It's... grown on me. It helps if I don't associate it with G1 Devastator. Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of the Bayverse's tendency to make generic-looking silver robots, or the propensity to have little to no recognizable alt mode bits because the "transformation" involved the entire thing breaking down into millions of shards of jagged metal. But I do like the idea that the robots, not being a product of human evolution, don't necessarily have to end up with the two-arm, two-leg configuration we wound up with, or that if they do they don't have the same proportions. Movie Devastator was at least a colorful, memorable character in the film (even if said film was hot garbage).

I like Titan Omega, but for as much as he's probably going for on the aftermarket you might be better off preordered DX9's Gabriel off BBTS for $180. I believe he's one of the figures rumored to show up in the Studio Series '86 line.

Well... after nearly a year and a half since Rampage released, Overload is the final part we need to make that Devastator. So was it all worth it in the end? While I already showed off the others' combined modes this is Overload's, which I didn't show in his review. He's mostly going to be the waist, abs, pelvis, and thighs. You'll need to get him in this position, and get the others ready if you haven't yet. We can finish off the legs by attaching Long Haul and Rampage. Each one only fits on a particular side, hence the asymmetry on Overload's alt mode. Find the slots on the back of the Overload thighs, and slide them over rails on the front of Long Haul and Rampage. Mixmaster makes the head and part of the back, while Scavenger becomes the upper half of Devastator's torso, including his shoulders and biceps. Attach Mixmaster to Scavenger using what amount to c-clips. Then, make sure the side of the wheel with the downward-facing slot is pointed forward and slide it onto Overload's back. Overload's cab and part of his robot chest and head tuck up against the wheel, and Overload's own legs just kind of sit along the sides. They don't appear to lock in place in any meaningful way. While not absolutely necessary, you can put Overload's half tube over the front of Mixmaster's mixing drum. Again, it doesn't seem to tab or lock in place. It relies on the fact that when it's properly placed the bottom is slightly narrower than the mixing drum, so you'd have to turn it to get it off, but it's unlikely turn while it's resting against the flayed rear of the mixing drum with the smokestacks holding it in place. A square peg flips out of Scrapmetal, and it plugs into a port on Hightower to make one arm. Scrapper alone makes the other. Scrapper and Hightower both have ratcheted joints with squarish plates on the end. Those plates slide into cavities on Devastator's biceps, and when fully inserted a flexible tab holds them in place. And here's the combined Devastator. I'm a bit surprised by how short he is. He's got a lot of mass, but he's sort of eye-to-naval with Titan Devastator. Well, he's a big improvement over either of the 2009 RotF Devastator's in terms of proportions and aesthetics, but he's not without his flaws. There's a lot more red showing than there ought to be. Some of that could be mitigated by replacing Rampage (who was colored like the character who fought Bumblebee in robot mode) with Skipjack (the same figure, but done in yellow to give Devastator a screen-accurate yellow foot). But some of it is because Overload connects to the front of Long Haul and Rampage/Skipjack; this gives him red thighs when the movie had them green and yellow. Likewise, Scavenger (who is red) makes the biceps but on screen his arms were yellow all the way up to the shoulders. His back is missing some random fin-like plates and cables, his left arm is missing the cables. His claws aren't exactly right, and some of the random-bits-of-metal-in-a-blender look has given way to the reality that this figure is made of 8 smaller figures that actually have to transform. Articulation is not the best, but again better than previous attempts. His mouth can open and close, but he doesn't really have any other head articulation. His shoulders have ratchets for lateral movement, and soft ratchets for rotation. On my copy, the weight of his left arm seems to have pulled the ratchet apart enough that it's just loose friction and doesn't really hold poses. His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend on ratchets. No real wrist articulation, but most of his "fingers" can be manipulated. He looks like he could have a waist swivel, but if he does on my copy it absolutely will not turn. His hips are ratcheted for both forward/backward and lateral movement, and he's got ratcheted thigh swivels, but no knees at all. He does have some ankle pivot. All-in-all, I think you can get him in some decent poses, but due to limitation in his joints (including the inability to look up, the lack of knees, and no real up/down tilt on his feet) he cannot get on all fours like he did in the movie, which is a bit of bummer. None of the instructions mention this, but if you've been following them up to this point you'll be left with a "shield" from Scrapmetal and the stand from Rampage. Don't worry, though, the designers of Studio Series Devastator haven't forgotten about them! There's a peg hole on his left thigh that you can fit Scrapmetal's shield on (if the yellow looks out of place, again, replacing Rampage with Skipjack is an option). Then, if you look at his butt there's a peg hole in the midst of the silver-painted wires and junk (we saw in Overload's review). Rampage's (or Skipjack's) stand plugs right into his butthole. And now we circle back to my original question: was it all worth it? I mean, this was four Voyagers, two Leaders, and two Deluxes, which put retail cost at around $260. DX9's Omega Supreme and Zeta's Unicron were less than $50 more than that, and far better figures. Sticking with official toys, Titan-class Scorponok is bigger, more poseable, more fun, and $100 less. Still, at the time of writing this is the best movie Devastator on the market (3rd party "Devil Saviour" is working on one, but so far their Mixmaster looks great but is a nightmare to transform and is riddled with QC issues, and will ultimately cost around $900). For all of Devastator's flaws, and the flaws of his component Constructicons, he does have a lot of presence fully combined. So, while I think it's important to know about those flaws and to know what you're getting into, I think it was ultimately worth it, and if you're a fan of the design I'll give him a recommend.

The Coneheads aren't the only thing I got in the mail. I also got Studio Series Leader-class Overload. Despite not being any taller to the head than Voyager-class Rampage, Overload feels big. He's much wider and feels heavier in hand. Is he screen-accurate? Well, that's the problem... his robot mode never appeared on screen. There's only concept art, which informed earlier Legends-class releases, and this Studio Series figure comes across as sort of a hybrid of the concept art (of which there was both a bipedal and a quadrupedal versions) and the Legends version from 2009. Ultimately I guess it's neither accurate nor inaccurate, but at the very least I can say that it does fit with the other Studio Series Constructions aesthetically. Like most of the other Studio Series Constructicons Overload doesn't come with much in the way of accessories. You just get this half a cylinder, and it's included primarily for combined mode. Overload's head is on a ball joint, with fairly good up/down tilt and no issues turning, but he doesn't have much sideways tilt. His arms a bit weird. He's got four of them, but only one shoulder on each side. That shoulder rotates on a ratchet and can move laterally on another ratchet, and using the shoulder will move both arms. There's also a ratcheted bicep swivel above both arms that turns them both together. The inner arms have a bicep swivel and two elbow joints; the upper joint can bend 90 degrees forward and 90 degrees backward, the lower joint can only bend forward but it can bend 120 degrees. The hooks on the ends of those arms also have a hinge that allow them to curl inward. A transformation hinge provides the outer arms with a little extra lateral movement. There are pin hinges where the gray connects to the red and at the elbow on the outer arm, but no bicep swivel so all of that articulation is again lateral. The red part at the wrist does give the outer arms wrists swivels, though. There's also a double hinge at the wrist. No waist swivel or ab crunch. His hips can go forward 90 degrees and backward a bit less due to kibble being in the way. They can also move laterally 90 degrees if you move the tires on his hips out of the way (which is easy, since they don't lock in place). His knees have about 90 degrees of range, but some of that is bending the wrong way. His feet don't tilt up or down, but they do have 90 degrees of ankle pivot. All-in-all, I feel like he has a lot of joints, but without bicep swivels on the outer arms and without separate shoulders for the arms your ability to pose him is still fairly limited. Oh, and the instructions don't mention it at all, but there's a round part on the half-tube that sticks out a bit, and it happens to fit between two tabs on Overload's back like a toilet paper roll. I have to assume it's intentional. Overload turns into a truck. In alt mode he's definitely showing a lot more size than the Voyagers. Ok, so specifically the concept art suggests that Overload is supposed to be a Komatsu HD465. And a quick Google search does sort of suggest that the front end of the truck in the movie does sort of look like an HD465, but with the bed removed and replaced with a larger bed on an articulated segment. Which... maybe that's something that Komatsu really does? I honestly don't know much about dump trucks. What I do know is that the toy has a wider grill that covers the spots where some of the lights would be, and it's got none of the safety railing. In other words, it's changed enough that Hasbro probably isn't paying Komatsu anything for licensing. Which would be fine, I guess, if the result was a passably realistic articulated dump truck, but it's really not. The cab section, from the front wheel forward, isn't too bad as long as you ignore the unpainted headlights, but then you run into large gaps where the robot head can peak through, a silver-painted mess of what looks to be wires and such, and very prominent shoulder joints. It all culminates in an asymmetrical, unfinished bed with gaps and hooks and no room to actually put and haul dirt. I'm left to conclude that the alt mode is rather phoned in, being somewhat suggestive of being a truck instead of actually being a truck. I suppose Hasbro was focused on the combined mode, and the alt mode is where they chose to make sacrifices or cut corners. But hey, you make have noticed little notches on the bed, near the exposed hooks. A pair of tabs on the half-tube allows you to plug the half-tube in so Overload can haul it. You know, for that screen-accurate* scene where Overload was hauling around Devastators neck that definitely didn't form from Mixmaster's mixing drum. *Not at all screen-accurate Push come to shove, Overload is a better figure than Scavenger, the other Leader-class Studio Series figure (and I feel a bit better about my purchase since Amazon dropped the price by $20 before shipping him). That's not really saying much, though. Frankly, Scrapmetal, Scrapper, and Long Haul are the only three out of eight figures that I feel stand on their own merits, so on his own as a single Leader-class figure I wouldn't recommend Overload. But, as was the case with Hightower, Mixmaster, Rampage, and Scavenger (and/or Skipjack) it's quite likely that you've been collecting these figures to make a Studio Series Devastator, and the individual robots don't matter all that much.

The Sinden lightgun looks extremely promising, and I'll probably nab at least one for my PC.

Well, so far these Transformer Tuesdays have been pretty painless. Last week it was a repaint of Airwave. And this week, it's Bugbite. Bugbite is going to be a white repaint of Cliffjumper with the upcoming Bumblebee's head, done it white with a purple "mercenary" logo (as seen on Exhaust). It's exactly the kind of figure that makes me say, "yeah, I kind of want that" but not the kind of figure that'll have me cursing and swearing off Transformers if I can't get one. I preordered at Hasbro Pulse. Speaking of exclusives, technically I would have got a package Saturday but my mail was on hold while I was away. My mail service was supposed to resume today, but nothing came so I called USPS. They told me to go to my local post office, who didn't actually have my mail and sent me to their carrier annex. Well, I'd get mad but the carrier annex is literally on my way home, so no harm no foul, and I got my package. Inside was the Amazon-exclusive Coneheads. No major surprises here. They're based on Earthrise Starscream, so pretty much what I said in that review still applies here. Ramjet's face has a stoic expression, Dirge is yelling. Both have decos that are much closer to the G1 cartoon than the older Classics/Universe figures, although both sport white/blue thighs instead of the darker color, and both use black for the darker color instead of gray. Oh, and Ramjet has white hands instead of black, presumably because the other seekers' hands match their forearms and are likely on the same sprues, and changing it just for Ramjet's too expensive. Their null rays are the same mold as Starscream's, which again is more cartoon accurate. They didn't change Ramjet's hands, but there are a few mold differences besides the wings. Their torsos are remolded to give them the extra chest rectangle intake things (even if they are kind of filled in), something that the previous Classics and even the older Takara MPs didn't bother with. They also have new shin panels with bigger shin intakes and taller knee panels that don't stick out as far from the legs. In jet mode they lack the "flair" that the Classics toys had, but they do skew more toward the G1 cartoon. That being said, aside from some black near the intakes neither figure has much black/gray on the top. And something that didn't bother me as much in robot mode but really stands out to me in jet mode is that they have the same translucent orange canopies as Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp, instead of clear or a smokey translucent. I think that'd have been more accurate. Unlike the older Classics figures, which actually used the cone head as the nose of the plane, these guys work like the other Earthrise Seekers by carrying the nose on their backs. The nose folds up to join with the canopy in their chests, capturing their cone heads inside. This works fine for me; it prevents them from having stubbier noses like the Classics figures did. The new shins don't work quite as well, though. You're instructed to close them up, laying them flat against their pelvises. Thing is, they don't tab or lock in place this way; it's just the friction in the hinge holding them in place. Like Starscream, they don't have landing gear, but while Starscream rested on his knees and collar Dirge and Ramjet sit entirely on their kneepads. Anyway, like I said about Starscream, it's slightly disappointing that the mold is so heavily based on a toy that's over a decade old, but it's ultimately still a good mold. And Dirge and Ramjet are essential characters, as far as I'm concerned, so they get a recommend. They just really need to follow through on Thrust now.

Came home today after spending the weekend visiting Lake Pymatuning (with a brief stop at Lake Conneaut). Swung by my local Target for some supplies, and although I wasn't expecting to find anything special I did walk through the toys. And lo and behold, I actually did find some new toys! Specifically, I found Cyberverse Deluxe Class Arcee. Arcee suffers, as all the Cyberverse figures have suffered, from a lot of missing paint decos. There's no blue on her ears, no dark pink or blue on her biceps, no dark pink on her hands, no blue on her thighs, some blue on her knees but not her shins, and her feet should be the lighter pink. None of her joints have any black, and she's got noticeable hollow spots on the inside of her thighs. I also happen to think her head is too big. I mean, the short body and long legs seem to be animation accurate, but her noggin still looks bigger than it should be. Let's also address the elephant in the room... she's got a ginormous backpack. To be fair, her animation model has a pretty big backpack, and Arcee figures just don't seem to have a lot of luck in this area, but this is pretty ridiculous. I know there's a lot of disappointment about the upcoming Earthrise figure's backpack... I can't wait for it to come out so I can compare the two. For now, though... yeesh. At least Arcee comes with quite a few accessories. She's got a pistol that's not exactly animation accurate, but it's fine. She's got a pair of blast effect parts. And she comes with not one but three of the build-a-figure parts- both shoulder/biceps, and a hammer. With the shoulders I can finally put all the pieces I have together! Or, I could if I could find them all. I thought I had them all together, but I can't find the forearm that came with Grimlock. Oh well, I'm sure it'll turn up. Getting back to Arcee, her head is on a ball joint that can swivel and look up/down a little. It's not cut for sideways tilt, though. Her shoulders are ball joints for rotation and a little under 90 degrees of lateral movement. She's got bicep swivels (her left arm likes to pop off at the swivel on my copy), and elbows that bend 90 degrees. No wrist swivels. She does have sort of a high waist swivel, at the narrowest point of her hourglass shape. Her hips are ball joints that can go 90 degrees forward/backward and a little less than that laterally. She has thigh swivels just above her knees, which bend 180 degrees on a single hinge due to her transformation. Her feet can tilt down, but only the the slightest bit up, and she has no ankle pivots. Her hands are molded into 5mm grips, so she can hold her pistol just fine. She can hold Maccadam's hammer, too. Hey, it came in her box. The blast effect parts can fit onto the pistol's barrel. Arcee's alt mode does homage the G1 versions, but run through Cyberverse's blocky filter. And the engineering is all-too familiar figures with a feminine shape- cover that shape with a shell carried in the backpack. No, seriously, unfold her backpack and bring it up over her head. The only thing that's missing is the side panels she's carrying on her forearms. I mentioned that the alt mode is pretty block; I think it's blockier than the already-blocky concept art. And again, she's missing plenty of paint but less than I first thought. Like, she's got the stripes on the hood, the dark grill, the blue headlights, and the lighter pink nose and sides. The cockpit is mostly transparent blue and light pink, which is mostly correct, but she could use a dark pink stripe. Her fin should be dark pink, and her rear is missing a dark pink stripe. In front of the cockpit she's got a block of light pink; it should actually be dark pink with a light pink raised section on top of it sporting a blue light. Otherwise she just needs a little black on her back and some blue on her taillights. I'd have also liked a little dark paint on the vents on her rear fenders. Oh, and one thing that bugs me is that they painted some blue (correctly) on her wheels, but they cast her wheels in pink plastic. The non-blue part of her wheels should be black. While in alt mode there's a space under the nose where you can store her pistol. As for the blast effect parts they can plug into her rear. At the risk of beating a dead horse, when I see what Hasbro's done with the Deluxe-class in Siege and Earthrise it's hard to justify the same price for Cyberverse Arcee (or most of the Cyberverse Deluxes). Yeah, you get the BAF pieces, but I'd happily trade those in for more paint to have a more show-accurate deco, actual engineering instead of folding the robot up and stuffing her in the car on her back, and ankle pivots. I won't say that Arcee's a bad figure, though, or even the worst of the Cyberverse Deluxes (that honor still goes to Hot Rod). I wouldn't necessarily recommend her, but as long as you know what you're in for I wouldn't say you should avoid her, either.

Curious, if true, that we're getting "Core" class Optimus and Megatron when they'd previously ditched the Legends class and were focused more heavily on keeping everyone in scale. I also find the notion of a third Voyager-class Starscream to be a bit odd. And I agree, I'm not particularly interested in Fossilizers. That being said, I mind Hasbro tossing a bone to Beast Wars fans a lot less when they're saying it's actually a 40/60 split with G1. Inferno, Cyclonus, Warpath, Rodimus, and Galvatron are all welcome additions, and there might be no one on earth more excited for Slammer than I am (although I really wish Scamper would get a do over). I'm also quite curious to see what the next Titan will be (but the "gangly" description doesn't sound right for Metroplex). I'm a bit concerned about the rumor that Rodimus will be the next Commander-class. Rodimus himself shouldn't be bigger than Optimus, which is to say Voyager-sized. Even if, as the rumor suggests, this will be close to the G1 toy (which to me implies that Rodimus only turns into the cab and most of the vehicle is a trailer/battle station) I don't see the trailer adding enough for Rodimus to be more than a Leader-class toy.

There are many reviewers on Youtube these days. You could try searching for the name of the toy + review. But these days if it looks like something I might like I just buy it. There's a chance that I might not like the transformation or something might have poor quality, but for the most part 3P toys are higher quality across the board than they were five years ago.

Oh heck yeah. That sound way better than G.I. Joe Fortnite.

After hearing that their spins-around-and-talks-but-otherwise-does-nothing Quintesson will be $180 all I have to say is that the trailer better not be stupid expensive.

Well, the first reveal was pretty painless... Airwave repainted as Hot House. A repaint of a toy I don't care much about into a toy I care even less about.

I've said before, but I might as well say again since this is the discussion we're having, but I think we've all come to expect some level of cartoon accuracy. We want the wheels on Prime's legs hidden, we want him to have blue eyes, we want Megatron's gun barrel on his back and not his hip, we want Bumblebee, Brawn, Windcharger, and Gears to have faces, we want Brawn and Huffer to have hands, we want Ironhide and Ratchet's shoulders to be at the top of their window chests with actual heads above them, etc. But I think a lot of us, myself included, want cartoon-accurate-but-realistic. We want toys that look like they could be the real robots the cartoon was based on, like the Hasui MPs. But the market at large seems to be pushing for 3D animation cells. I'm not saying that we have to like it. I'm not telling David or anyone else that they should buy something like Sky Lynx of real-world alt mode inaccuracies bother him. But I am suggesting we might be a minority now, and we shouldn't be surprised when HasTak incorporates design elements we don't like but are absolutely a Sunbow feature. Anyway, I caught this today. I could be interpreting this wrong, but it sure sounds like for the next five Tuesdays starting tomorrow they're going to be announcing yet more store-exclusive figures in a misguided attempt to give the fans the G1-style Earthrise figures they still want while simultaneously rushing us into Kingdom. So, yay, more stress I didn't need... this is 2020 in a nutshell, though. Not sure what all they could reveal yet, but I'd guess that Earthrise-style Bluestreak and Ratchet are likely, and maybe Thrust. And of course I'll be super mad if I can't get a hold of any of them. It'd be cool if a Siege Sunstorm and/or Nacelle were one of them (but please not the Earthrise mold... that'll just make me want at minimum Acid Storm, Red Wing, and Hotlink, too.

So, I was looking at prototype pictures of Ace Hitter, Fans Hobby's upcoming Goshooter/Siren. And since it looks like Ace Hitter and Athena use almost identical engineering I think the answer to my earlier questions is simply a remolded chest door. If you put a Nightbeat-style chest on Ace Hitter, then swap the lower legs, the shoulder kibble, and the removable back kibble with Athena's so the result turns into a Porsche instead of a Mazda and you're basically done. Nightbeat even had Siren's face in the comics, so you don't even have to change the face.

That screenshot might be; I just Googled "G1 Sky Lynx" and looked at the screenshots that came up. But AFAIK this is the Sunbow model, and his nose still looks pointy and has nostrils (but magically gets rounder with three thrusters for shuttle mode, and the Autobot insignia magically shifts from behind the cockpit to in front of it). As for the window, assuming the line down the middle of his nose is actually centered, well, there's no line on the window above it. But, as he's largely in profile, I wouldn't say it's definitive, so we've got nothing to go on but the cartoon. And no, most of these are definitely not Call of the Primitives. So yeah, the cartoon is inconsistent and often poorly animated. I agree with you, it shouldn't be the be-all and end-all arbiter of how a modern Transformers toy should look, and I too would prefer more realistic shuttle details including his eye windows and nose shape. All I'm saying is that five (or even three, at least once) windowed, pointy nose Sky Lynx is not without precedent so I can't fault the new toy for it.

More or less this, I think. Yep. The G1 toy had broader feet with the toes splayed apart a bit. I don't like the bird legs either, but I doubt I'll ever more than rarely use the bird mode. Shuttle or dragon for me. Well, you say never a pointy nose and no appearance had a single central window... but... He's clearly got a pointy nose and a single central window. Look, I'm right there with you in preferring a more realistic rounded nose and window arrangement (which the G1 toy had), but these aren't design elements that HasTak pulled out at random for recent figures. This is cartoon accuracy. (While I'm at it, look, he's even got the two little nostrils in the cartoon that are on the new toy). The War for Cybertron does love its greebles.

I try to get free shipping whenever possible, especially when I'm buying from US-based stores that are already charging more than China to make up for their own shipping costs. So, I didn't ship Volatus alone; I also picked up Athena, Fans Hobby's take on Minerva. So, some quick background. In the West in 1988 we got Nightbeat, Siren, and Hosehead, and Nightbeat in particular became something of a fan favorite due to his role as a kind of detective in the old Marvel G1 comics (and later reprising that role in IDW). Now, Nightbeat's toy had a rather prominent hinge on the roof, and I guess someone at Takara had the idea of painting the hinge to look like a light bar. So instead of getting Nightbeat as he was released in the West, the Japanese market got the same toy with a red and white rescue deco. Then, like Siren and Hosehead (called Goshooter and Cab in Japan) this redecoed figure would feature prominently in the Super God Masterforce anime, drawn with a more feminine figure and named Minerva after the school girl who formed the head. Now, with all that in mind, Fans Hobby definitely did a good job giving Athena a feminine figure (indeed, Fans Hobby has indicated that they are going to release this mold as Nightbeat, and I wondering how much remolding they're going to do to give him his chunkier, '80s Transformer proportions). She's sporting the narrow waist, bikini pelvis, slender arms, and curved thighs of the animation model, with chest armor that's slightly more suggestive of breasts than even the anime. However, as Fans Hobby's designs are often a bit stylized, there are some serious differences between Athena and Minerva's animation model. Athena has some of the rear of the car on articulated struts attached to he back of her shoulders; Minerva had the sides of the car attached to and sticking up from the sides of her shoulders, and they didn't have wheels the way Athena's do. Athena has the front of the car for her lower legs while Minerva used the back, resulting in some significant differences in the details on the front of her shins. The sides on the front were the forearms on the toy, and although she was drawn with slim, feminine arms in the anime Minerva had headlights drawn near her wrists and tiny wheels on the sides of her arms. Athena has none of that, sporting new red cuffs instead. Finally, Athena has white antenna instead of black, and the tops of her antenna are set in from the sides due to the helmet containing the points and her arms making up the sides, while on the G1 toy the headmaster fit into the helmet and then small guns pegged into the sides to make her antenna. Despite the differences, she still basically has a mostly white and red head with an orange face, white torso with red chest armor, a silver vent, and a darker midriff, red shoulders, thighs, and feet, dark forearms and hands, white shins and shoulder kibble, and a white pelvis with blue details. Ultimately, she's very recognizable as Minerva. For a size comparison here she is with XTB's Dead End, so he's about the height of an MP carbot. I believe that's correct for the anime. I'm not a fan of her back kibble. To be fair, the G1 toy had a bit of it, and it was drawn as a flap sticking out behind her head in the anime. If you're finding that it gets in your way, though, it pops right off. In fact, removing it is a necessary step in transforming her. To mimic one of the feature of the G1 toy you can open the red armor on her chest to find a panel with her tech specs inside. The panel is spring-loaded, and it's the opening of the panel that pushes the indicators up, not plugging the head in. Since we're talking about her head, I guess we should talk accessories. He goes with a pair of guns, and the guns can fold up. She comes with her headmaster partner, her helmet top, and an alternate face with a more neutral expression. Possibly just for G1-ish fun, possibly to avoid issues with the Red Cross, either way she comes with a sticker sheet. I might apply them later, but note that all the pictures for this review are unstickered. A note about the headmaster- you may recall that Fans Hobby's previous release, their version of Godbomber, came with three Headmaster Juniors. The helmet and headmaster that comes with Athena are nearly identical to one of the ones that came with Godbomber. The only real difference is that the one that comes with Athena has the smiling face, and the one that came with Godbomber has the other more neutral face. So, if you have Godbomber you don't have to switch faces, you can just use the other copy. If you need a referesher, the headmasters head is on a tiny ball joint with minimal tilt in any direction but it can swivel. Her are on ball joints that rotate and give her maybe 45 degrees of lateral motion. Her elbows can bend 90 degrees. She's got an ab crunch, and ball jointed hips that can move forward and backward 90 degrees but maybe only 30 degrees laterally (if I'm being generous). Her knees can bend basically 180 degrees on a single hinge. No bicep, wrist, waist, or thigh swivels, and no ankle or foot articulation. Athena's head swivels on the headmaster's neck joint, but the headmaster's small, round head basically acts as a ball joint and affords Athena a tiny bit of upwards and sideways tilt and a surprisingly good amount of downward tilt. Her shoulders can rotate and extend laterally just under 90 degrees. There's a transformation hinge you can use to get even more lateral movement; it doesn't even lock in place, although I actually consider that a strike against the figure because those arms really should lock into place. Anyway, the kibble struts on her shoulders swivel at the base, have hinges at the base and near the actual kibble, and the kibble itself is connected to the strut via a ball joint, so you have options for posing them however you think looks best and moving them out of the way as necessary for posing. Her biceps swivel, and she's got double-jointed elbows that bend a combined 180 degrees. Her hands feel an awful lot like they came from a Gundam kit. They swivel at the wrist and a transformation hinge allows them to bend up. Her thumb has a hinge for opening and closing, but no other articulation. Her fingers are all molded together, with a hinge at the base and second hinge at the middle knuckle. Her waist is a double ball joint, so she can swivel, arc her back, ab crunch forward, or lean to the sides. Her hips are ball joints (which I'm not a fan of on a figure this size), and they can go forward 90 degrees, backward maybe 75 degrees, and laterally about 75 degrees. They're not the tightest joints, but fortunately ball joints are one of the easier joints to tighten with floor polish. Her red thighs swivel around the black hip joint. Her knees are double-jointed, but both of them together just get you 90 degrees. Her feet don't really tilt up, but they do tilt down a little and her toes tilt down even more. Her ankles only have a little pivot, but the front of her foot is on a swivel so you can fake more. When unfolded her guns have tabs on the handles that fit into slots on her palms in a manner that's very typical of most MP-style figures (but rather uncommon for Fans Hobby, who usually use those rails on the handles that slide into the palms). While folded there are slots on the sides that fit over tabs on the sides of her thighs. Athena's transformation isn't terribly complicated, but it can be a bit fiddly. Her lower legs make up the front of the car and the doors, most of the rear is on her shoulder kibble, and the roof, windows, and the rear spoiler are the removable backpack kibble. This essentially means that two thirds of the car are basically a shell around a robot doing yoga, and if her waist is a little crooked or her arms aren't folded up just right the outer shell will have trouble lining up and staying tabbed in right. If you do get everything lined up right, though, it's a pretty nice car mode. The front has accurate placement for the headlights, turn signals, and grill. The fenders and side skirts flare out right, and it's got the vents on the corners of the bumpers. It's got the intakes on the rear fenders (the 959 is a rear-engine car), and accurate rims. The spoiler is right, and the rear lights wrap all the way across in the correct manner, with translucent parts on the corners and paint down the middle. I might point out that the translucent parts should be orange, though, that the gas cap is on the right side but in the wrong spot (it should be just behind the door, above the intake on the fender). It's got the spot for the rear license plate, but none of the vents or the twin exhaust tips. And while I appreciate that Fans Hobby painted the mirrors silver they're obnoxiously big. You can, if you like, open the front windshield and roof like the G1 toy, and the steering column lifts up out of the way. In theory, you're supposed to be able to put the headmaster inside so she can drive the car. In practice, the size of the space under the dashboard and the angle it forces her legs into mean she doesn't really fit. I can get one leg in, but the other will pop right off the ball joint. The only alternative was to fold up her legs like I would for head mode, but that doesn't secure her in the seat and she'll rattle loosely around the cabin. If you pop the top off, you also find two holes behind the seat. You can plug the antenna on the helmet piece into those holes, securing it for alt mode. There's also some space above her tucked-in arms at the rear of the vehicle. You'll find slots there, and if you fold up her guns and line them up so the barrels are pointed toward the front of the car there are some molded bits that fit into those slots, allowing the guns to be stored inside as well. I touched on a few issues, like partsforming, fiddliness, ball joints, Gundam hands, and the fact that the headmaster doesn't really fit in her seat. But there's more I need to call out. The plastic doesn't feel all that great; it's not bad KO-level plastic, but it's a softer plastic with a texture that feels off. The headmaster is hard to remove from the neck socket; I filed the connection down a little, but other people have pulled the headmaster off and found her head still stuck in the socket. And there are tolerance issues with the doors on the backs of her legs so manipulating her has a tendency to pop them out of place. All-in-all it's a significant step down in quality from pretty much every other Fans Hobby figure I've bought. Athena doesn't really feel like an MP figure. She feels kind of cheap. On the other hand, that's because she is kind of cheap, retailing for around $60. For all her flaws I do feel like she's worth that price- I got my money's worth. I won't buy the Nightbeat repaint; I consider Nightbeat to be the more important character, and I'd rather wait for someone else to do him better, even if that eventual figure costs more. But for a Japan-only character and the opportunity to add another fembot to my collection I don't regret picking her up. So, no, I don't really recommend her. Most collectors will do just fine without her in their collection. But if you're a Masterforce fan, or just like the idea of a female medic that turns into a Porsche then Athena is worth the price, as long as you know what you're getting into.