mikeszekely

Yeah, I kind of wonder if having spent the last nearly two decades collecting Transformers of the retail, Masterpiece, and unlicensed 3P varieties have colored my notions of toy engineering and expectations vs some of you guys who have been collecting Macross toys for that long (or longer!). At the very least, I hope my perspective makes for an interesting read for you guys, because I do have another Hi-Metal R for you tonight... Roy's VF-0S. Watching Macross Zero back in the day left me with the impression that the VF-0 was kind of like a rough-draft VF-1 (despite it having the pointed toes that came on almost every variable fighter after the VF-1)... same basic transformation, a little less refined, and traditional engines instead of reaction engines. I don't think I ever appreciated just how much bigger the VF-0 actually is until I had them side-by-side. Aesthetically, the VF-0 is similar to the VF-1, and I don't mean that in the sense that they're both sporting the Jolly Rodger. I mean that one again Bandai applied paint cleanly and effectively to bring out the appropriate details on an excellently-sculped figure that looks good from all angles... almost. From the side, the chest seems to stick out a bit, and you can see a bit of the cockpit's canopy poking out. It's almost like the inside of the heatshield isn't quite the right shape to cover the cockpit. Something else to note, where the backpack thrusters are just there on the VF-1, they retract up into the backpack on the VF-0. To properly deploy them, you need to move the tailhook to find a notch. You need to work a tool into the notch and push the thrusters out. Fortunately, Roy's VF-0S comes with a small tool for exactly that. You also get a gunpod, some leg armor, a second set of head lasers, two alternate sets of wings, four racks of missiles, landing gear, alternate intakes, a little pilot, two long pitot tubes (which are identical, one is just in case you break or lose the other), one small pitot tube, four sets of replacement hands (right and left closed fists, gun hands, splayed-finger hands, and relaxed hands), a stand, and stand adapters for all three modes. For the most part, the VF-0 has similar articulation to the VF-1. The head can swivel, and the swivel is on a flap, which is all necessary for transformation but the flap can be used to help the VF-0 look down. A ball joint where the head connects to the neck also gives the VF-0 some up/down/sideways tilt. The main issue here is that the neck kind of scrunches into the head for transformation, and to get the most out of the articulation you have to pull the head back up... which more often than not caused the entire head to pop off the flap. Moving on, the shoulders are ball joints that can swivel and move laterally 90 degrees, and hinges give them some forward butterfly as well. The biceps swivel, and the double-jointed metal elbows combine for 180 degrees of bend. The hands are connected via ball joints, which give you some up/down/in/out tilt in addition to swivels. No waist swivel. The ball jointed hips have limited forward/backward range due to the wings, but they again provide for about 45 degrees of lateral movement, while the Gerwalk hinge gives you 90 degrees of forward him movement. You can use the ball joints in the hips for some thigh swivel, but there's a dedicated swivel above the knees. Speaking of knees, they bend a little under 90 degrees. If there's one thing that's improved it's the ankles. They can slide out a little further than the VF-1, which doesn't really do much for the upward tilt of the feet, but it does give them better range tilting downward, a little more ankle swivel, and best of all at least some ankle pivot. Unlike the VF-1, the stock hands cannot hold the gunpod, so you have to swap hands if you want to use it. It's a bit of a bummer, since the VF-0's chest covers the cockpit without removing the canopy or replacing it with a heat shield made the VF-0 potentially closer to a perfect transformation. As long as we're partsforming, though, like the VF-1 you can pull the wings off and replacement them with smaller, fused wings for Battroid mode. The smaller pitot tube is also technically for Battroid mode... I guess so you can say it's there without actually seeing it (though, honestly, I'd just leave it off at that point). The leg armor uses a pair of tabs to plug into slots on the sides of the legs. And since the VF-0 comes with a stand, I can talk about it this time. For Battroid mode, you'll use this part to sit behind the nose, with the hooks wrapping under and cradling the swing bar. This is the only stand part that has a peg instead of a hole, so you'll have to use the long tube on the stand arm to change the stand's peg into a hole. Obligatory Gerwalk picture. Looks good once you get there. Gerwalk mode has it's own stand adapter. This one has a slot that fits over the tab on the swing bar (the one that plugs into the underside of the nose), while the rest of the adapter wraps around the metal part. This adapter has a hole, so you either don't need the tube, or you need to put the topper on the tube so it ends in a peg instead of a hole. Transforming the VF-0 is pretty similar to the VF-01... the nose unclips from the swing bar, a hatch opens on the back for the head to pass through, the chest rocks back to link to the back, intakes plug into the underside of the chest, the arms slide down, double-hinge in so they touch, then slide back up, backpack folds back, and the legs plug into the back, legs, and backpack. The thing is, subtle differences in clearance seem to conspire against you. The head lasers don't quite through the gap in the back, even after you swap them with the other pair, and my manipulations caused the head to pop off. The shoulders rub against the backs of the legs, and I popped an arm off from the slider. Rocking the chest back, I wound up popping it off, too. The vertical stabilizers also rub against each other in a way that feels like I'm forcing them past each other. They seem to slide out a bit to mitigate that, but I wound up sliding one completely off. All the parts that popped off go right back on, but after the mostly-pleasant transformation of the VF-1 the fact that any parts popped off, let alone that many, left me feeling frustrated. Worth it, though? Once you get it there and get everything plugged in, the VF-0S is certainly a good-looking Fighter. Again, nicely-painted details, sharp sculpt, etc. The painted exhaust fans inside the feet are a nice touch. Rather than removable panels like the VF-1, the VF-0 actually has flaps that open for the landing gear... but you still have to dig the landing gear out and plug them into the sockets. Ditching the removable panels feels like a step in the right direction, I just wish they would have gone the rest of the way and put hinged landing gear permanently inside. While we're under there, the tailhook moves, and the gunpod can mount to the fighter's belly. It works more like the Yamato/Arcadia- the handle doesn't come off, it slides up into the barrel and the barrel collapses. The bit that's left sticking out has a slot that sandwiches between recessed tabs on the VF-0's arms. Despite not needing to remove it for transformation, the canopy still has to be removed rather than hinging opened. You can sit your little Roy in the seat, and again I'm impressed with the paint and detail on such a tiny figure. The normal "closed" intakes can slide off, just like the VF-1, to be replaced with open intakes for atmospheric flight... which is the only kind the VF-0 was meant for, what with the traditional engines. (So... why does the VF-0 still have vernier nozzles on the nose, chest, and near the elbows?) The longer pitot tube is meant for Fighter mode, and you can attach it by plugging a tiny peg into a little hole under the nose. The leg armor can still be used in Fighter (and Gerwalk mode). It's not even necessary to remove it to transform. And again, like the VF-1, the "standard" wings are smooth underneath. You can pop them off and replace them with wings that are identical save for the raised peg holes on the underside that allow you to plug in the missile racks. The largest stand adapter has tabs that fit into slots on the sides of the intakes, cradling the legs but leaving a gap that the gunpod can fit through. As with the Gerwalk adapter, the bottom is a hole so you don't need the extra tube. Ultimately, I'm not sorry I got the VF-0S. It looks great in all three modes, and is going to make a nice display with my other HMR figures. However, I'm definitely glad the VF-0S wasn't my first HMR, because I might have assumed the frustration I felt with parts popping off during transformation was typical for the HMR line and just quit right there. As it stands, the VF-0 is my least-favorite HMR so far, but that's kind of ok, because the VF-0 is one of my least-favorite Valkyries anyway (the VF-5000 and VF-11 are more interesting takes on the basic VF-1 transformation, IMHO). I have stronger feelings for the VF-4, so as long as it's better...

Thanks for the love! Unfortunately I don't have too many left to review, especially since I don't plan on doing new VF-1 reviews every time I pick up another paint job. I'm saving for a VF-2SS, and crossing my fingers that Bandai retools their new VF-19 Kai into a VF-19F/S. Then I just gotta cross my fingers and hope that a VF-11, YF-19, YF-21/VF-22, and VF-17 are in the cards soon. To be clear, it's not like I'm saying the Fugu is terrible or anything (and I've got no experience with the Valkyrie Factory one, unless Fugu and Valkyrie Factory are actually the same people). But the plastic just (subjectively) doesn't feel as good as the plastic Bandai used on the HMRs, and the joint tolerances on the Fugu range from "I think I'm going to break this" tight in the shoulders to leaning over backward with FAST packs loose in the spaces between the ratchet detents in the feet. I also feel like Fugu uses thinner parts, or at least proportionally thinner parts. As an example, the post with the ball joints going into the hips on the HMRs are about the same size as the the ones on the Fugu, despite the HMR's only coming to the top of the Fugu's intakes, plus the entire swing bar is plastic on the Fugu while the HMR's use metal for the vertical part and have it more reinforced where it connects to the plastic horizontal part. If they weren't so expensive I'd like to try a Bandai DX VF-1 someday. The impression I get is that a lot of people here prefer the Arcadias, but I have a feeling I'd like the DX.

It's a thought (though I have a pair of Act 5 stands). I dunno, though, Kakizaki's TV scheme is so boring... the brown doesn't pop off the white the way Max's blue does. I actually prefer the cannon fodder scheme. Ironically, I'm not big on Hikaru or Max's DYRL VF-1As, but I'd buy Kakizaki's.

OK, like I said when I reviewed Fugu's Jetfire, I feel way more secure in my knowledge of Transformers than I do Macross, so I'm sure that there's nothing here you don't already know, and I'm probably missing something that you guys can point out to me. But after some friendly (I hope) teasing from @tekering for buying just about every Transformer Hasbro's released in the last six or seven years but not owning any Macross toys (despite hanging out on a Macross board), I picked up some Hi-Metal R figures and wanted to share my thoughts. We'll start with the VF-1. I got, specifically, the DYRL VF-1S Strike Valkyrie Focker type and Hikaru's VF-1J with GPB armor. As you can see (and probably know) the HMR's are a lot smaller than the Yamato/Arcadia (or KO of said) VF-1. The smaller size comes with a few drawbacks, with the most immediate and obvious one from the above image being the hands. However, I'm still impressed with the HMRs... the detail is quite good for their size. Both VF-1's feature more paint than most mainline Transformers, the sculpt is sharp, and the molded panel lines are accurate and realistic without crossing over into excessive greebles. While the HMR's do have some thin plastic parts, I'd go so far as the suggest that overall the materials on the HMR's feel noticeably better than Fugu's Jetfire. Alas, I don't have a legitimate Yamato/Arcadia to compare with. These figures come with a lot of accessories. Now, I know that Bandai's released a couple of different VF-1's at this point. Most of what I'm going to cover should apply, but aside from different decos or heads they may come with accessories these two don't, and these two surely come with accessories that they don't. That said, as you can see in these two trays, there's likely a lot of overlap. Both the VF-1S and the VF-1J come with two pairs of alternate wings, a gunpod with a small handle, a larger handle for the gunpod, a canopy, alternate intakes, stand adapters for Bandai's Tamashii Nations Stage Act 5 stands (not included), some landing gear, and replacement hands, albeit different ones (the VF-1S has DYRL-style left-and-right closed fists, L&R chopping hands, L&R gun-holding hands, a left open hand with splayed fingers, and a left cupping hand, while the VF-1J has TV-style L&R closed fists, L&R semi-relaxed hands, L&R gun hands, and left-only cupping and open-splayed hands). We also have, unique to the VF-1J, four racks of small missiles, two torso fillers, and one neck filler, while the VF-1S has some replacement head lasers on sprues. One pair is basically the same as the attached ones, just made from a more bendable rubbery plastic, while the others are straight instead of angled out like a 'V', and intended primarily for Gerwalk/Fighter modes. Since the VF-1S is billed as a Strike Valkyrie, it has a second tray with the arm armor, the two-part leg armor, two Super pack boosters, and a Strike cannon, as well four missile pods, two lone large missiles, and two doubled large missiles. Meanwhile, the VF-1J has a second tray with the GBP armor itself (chest, hips, pelvis, shoulders, forearms, legs, and boosters), more larger alternate hands, feet covers, a few missile parts, and a parts separator. There's also a replacement head. This is to reflect that while Hikaru's VF-1J normally has white around the "eyes," for some reason during the episode "Miss Macross" this area was sometimes colored gray. The HMR has fairly similar articulation to the Yamato/Arcadia, not too much lost going to the smaller scale. Heads are on ball joints that can look up a little, slight sideways tilt, decent downward tilt. The ball joint itself is connected to a swivel and hinge for transformation, and you can use that hinge to get a little more downward tilt (the swivel just puts the head off-axis, though). Their ear-lasers swivel. The shoulders are on metal ball joints that can swivel and move laterally 90 degrees. Like the Yamato/Arcadia they also have a hinge that doesn't really lock down in Battroid mode, giving them forward/backward butterfly motion as well. Their biceps swivel, and their double-jointed elbows bend a little short of 180 degrees. Their wrists are ball joints for swiveling and some in-out-up-down tilt. No waist swivel. The ball-jointed hips can't swivel very far forward or backward without hitting the wings, but they offer some thigh swivel. The joint can slide out a bit, but even extended you only have about 45 degrees of lateral hip movement. Hinges below the intakes can be used for 90 degrees forward hip joints. There's another swivel just above the knees, which bend 90 degrees. Fully-extended, the feet have some up/down tilt, and the front half even seems to have a little swivel, but like the Yamato/Arcadia a there's a disappointing lack of ankle pivot. The stock right hand has a space carved out of it that the stock handle can slide into. If you prefer bigger hands, the stock hands simply pop off the ball joints in the wrists, and the stock handle slides right out of the gunpod. Replace it with the bigger handle, which is made for the alternate hands. The alternate hands are kind of rubbery so the fingers bend around the handle with the index finger hooking into the trigger guard. As long as you're swapping parts, the wings use c-clips to grab rods inside of the back. You can yank them off and replacement them smaller ones that are fused together as one solid piece. These shorter wings are a better match for Kawamori's line art. And, as I said, the VF-1J comes with chest and neck fillers, like the Yamato/Arcadia ones. The chest fillers slide over the thin flat bits inside the chest, while the neck filler fits in the gap behind the Battroid head but also over some small gaps near the front of the chest. The neck filler has the door molded into it, but there's no alternate one with an open door. If you remove the handle from the gunpod and collapse it, you'll find that there's a bit that's left with a tab. That tab can grab a slot on the outside of the Battroid's right arm. What's more, the FAST pack armor for the right arm has the same slot, allowing for the same same gunpod storage in Super or Strike mode. Speaking of Super/Strike mode, the leg armor works a lot like the Yamato/Arcadia. First you use some tabs to connect the calf armor to the back of the leg, then pegs on the calf armor hold the armor in place on the side of the leg. The leg armor does not have a removable cover. The arm armor is a bit different, though. First it has a tab that goes into the back of the arm, then and another that kind of wraps over the lip of the arm near the elbow more like the old chunky monkeys. The boosters connect to the backpack directly, without the need for a middle part. They have tabs that plug into slots on the sides of the backpack, with an additional tab that braces against the inner edge of the backpack. The rear engine cover does come off like the Yamato/Arcadia, but the front missile cover does not. Instead, the entire front section can be pulled off and replaced with the Strike cannon. The cannon is, of course, hinged so it can angle and fire over the Battroid's shoulder. As for the GBP armor, first you need to remove the tip of the nose. The hip amor sits over the intakes, but it doesn't lock onto them. Rather, the backs of the hip armor have slots that fit tabs on the inside of the back behind the hips. The pelvis armor is actually four parts; slide the back over the Battroid's butt, then the front slides over to connect to it and capture the hips and part of the nose. The side skirts plug onto the sides. The feet armor isn't so much armor as it is parts that mimic the Battroid's regular feet but make them look bigger, and they just slide over the front and back of the feet. The shoulder armor simply slides over the Battroid's shoulders. The boosters clip into the backpack in a way that's very similar to the Super pack. For the arm armor, first you fold away the Battroid's hands, then you slide the back of the arm on and capture the forearm with the front of the arm. Again, the hands are on ball joints, so if you want him to hold his gunpod you'll have to swap out a fist and use the largest gunpod handle. The leg armor is actually four pieces per leg. The back of the legs use the same tabs and slots as the Super pack, and the outside of the armor plugs into the back of the leg the same way. But then the front of the leg armor plugs onto tabs on the outer leg armor, and you fully enclose the Battroid's leg by using four tabs on the inner armor piece to plug it into slots on the front and back armor pieces. Finish the whole thing off by attaching the chest armor, which simply uses hooks to grab the gaps in the top of the Battroid's chest. The GPB armor has missiles on the hips and forearms, plus doors on the outside of the legs, the backs of the legs, both sides of the chest, and inside both shoulders. For whatever reason the missiles are already inside everything but the shoulders, where they're on flaps in the parts tray. If you want you can even display the GBP Valkyrie post missile-spam. The missiles in the forearms and hips can be removed. The racks in the sides of the legs come out, then you can use the parts separator to push the missiles out of the racks. The ones in the shoulders, chest, and backs of the legs are molded in, so you have to remove the entire panel. There are replacement empty panels you can put into those spaces instead. One thing to note about the Super/Strike packs and GBP armor... there are no special modifications to these Valkyries. As near as I can tell, all the HMR VF-1s have the same slots on the arms, legs, and backpack, and the tip of the nose comes off on all of them. There's nothing stopping you from using the FAST packs or GBP armor on other HMR VF-1s. Heck, if you buy another VF-1 Strike Valkyrie you could even mix and match parts to make one Super Valkyrie and one double Strike. Here's a quick look at Gerwalk mode. I was able to transform the VF-1S from Battroid to Gerwalk with the FAST packs on. Not going to go into a ton of detail here- while Gerwalk is obviously an important mode, it's still an intermediate step between Battroid and Fighter, and we'll cover the look and accessories more extensively in Fighter mode. So, yeah, Fighter mode. I mean, Kawamori worked out how the VF-1 transformed, so there's not a lot of room for deviation. If you've transformed the Yamato/Arcadia, you've already done 95% of the HMR already. The only biggest difference is in the shoulders. Rather than fold in and swivel together to get between the legs, the HMR's shoulders swivel at the ball joint, untab from the back, move backward on sliders just to clear the intakes, double hinge inward so the arms meet, and then forward again. It's slightly more finnicky, since even slid out there's not a lot of room to move the arms around the hips, plus the arms are connected to the sliders via c-clips that can be a bit frustrating to clip back on if they pop off. The only other differences worth mentioning are that the swing bar for the legs just uses a pair of tabs to plug into the bottom of the nose in Battroid, so you simply unplug it to move the legs, no flaps involved. Also, the heat shield doesn't slide up into the chest. You have to pull it off completely, then replace it with a separate canopy part. It's not exactly a transformation difference, the HMR VF-1s do not have landing gear inside the nose or legs. If you want landing gear on them, you have top pry off little flaps to reveal some indents with holes. The landing gear partsforms on by plugging into those holes. Partsforming aside, everything I said about the Battroid applies to the Fighter. There's plenty of molded and painted details that make the HMR VF-1s look premium despite their small size. Everything fits together solidly, nothing's flopping around. If I dare say so, I think the heads are even tucked in a bit better than the Yamato/Arcadia. Both VF-1s came with pilots already in their seats. Despite being super tiny they're painted fairly well, with the VF-1S coming with a Roy in the DYRL-style flight suit and the VF-1J coming with Hikaru in his TV flight suit. To insert or remove the pilots, you have to remove the entire canopy; it doesn't open. The front of the hips can me removed and replaced with exposed intake fans for atmospheric flight. And if you want to arm them up in fighter mode, you can install the gunpod the same way you did in Battroid mode, using the tab into the right arm. Missiles plug into the bottoms of the wings in a manner identical to the Yamato/Arcadia, but with one caveat... the regular wings are smooth on the underside, no holes to plug into. So you gotta yank them off and replace them with ones that are identical, save for the fact that they do have holes underneath. Honestly, I'm not sure what's stopping you from leaving the wings with holes on all the time; it's how the Yamato/Arcadia's are. You can transform the VF-1 with the FAST packs on. The tabs that lock the legs into the fuselage plug into identical slots on the leg armor, and tabs on the inside of the legs that usually tab into the arms tab into the arm armor instead. I really like the Hi-Metal R VF-1s. It might not be fair to judge the Arcadia by a KO, but I'm going to do it anyway and suggest that I honestly think the build quality is better on the HMR. The HMR's while still priced like a premium adult collectible, is also more affordable, which makes buying repaints and variants a lot more tempting, plus the smaller size means you'll likely have more shelf space to display those variants. I myself intend to pick up Max's VF-1A at the very least. That said, I think my biggest gripes with the HMR VF-1 is that it's a tad too small. To compare to a Transformer, it's roughly a short Voyager/tall Deluxe in size (of course, given that the VF-1 is supposed to be significantly smaller than an F-14 or F-15, maybe it's not so out of place with Starscream and Maverick here). If the HMR was just a bit bigger (but still well shy of 1/60) perhaps we could still have enjoyed a quality build in a relatively small package but without the need for partsforming. Even with the partsforming, the HMR VF-1 is my favorite VF-1 toy (though I've yet to experience Bandai's DX Chogokin or ThreeZero's... whatever they're calling their line).

I'm not much of a whisky guy, can you compare with rum?

When I started I was thinking, "eh, I only need one of each model." But I could see myself doing the 1S Hikaru (that's really Roy's) and Max's 1A. Messer's 1S has a neat deco. I should probably get a cannon fodder 1A, too. Max and Milia's 1Js are too blue and red, respectively, and Kakizaki's 1A is too similar to the cannon fodder 1A. It's the same reason why I'm not really into Hikaru's DYRL 1A/1S (or Max's DYRL 1A... but ironically would do Kakizaki's). Also, it's kind of weird that I want the whiter TV 1S, but I see no need to have both versions of Hikaru's 1J. Not really interested in the VT-1 or the VE-1. Honestly, I don't really like the 1D, either, but at that point I'm sure some completionist brain itch will compel me to get one. I'm getting ahead of myself, though. Gonna give my wallet a little break, than start looking for a VF-2SS (while simultaneously agreeing with @Chronocidal that I wish Bandai would would put out a few newer molds. A YF-19/VF-19A and a YF-21/VF-22 would be high on my wishlist, along with a VF-11 and VF-17. Probably a pipe dream, but I'd go for the deep cuts like the VF-9 and VF-14, too.

Those Battroids look like they should be wearing gym shorts, tank tops, and backwards ball caps while calling other Valkyries "nerds."

Just how many HMR VF-1 releases are there (not counting the pre-R Hi Metals)? I know that Focker's VF-1S came with the Strike packs in and a grayer deco, but also in a whiter deco with Super packs, right? And I know that they did the VF-1J in Max's (and Miriya's colors), but did they ever do the VF-1A in Max's colors?

I hope so. I preordered the Roy version... I've got that Valkyrie fever, it seems.😆 I don't think that's entirely fair, because I think it has less to do with Kawamori vs Takara and a lot more to do with what Macross fans want vs what Transformers fans want. Macross fans want the fighter mode. Skinny limbs, limited articulation, partsforming, whatever it takes to nail the fighter mode. Transformers fans, on the other hand, prioritize the bot mode. Heck, the majority (of which I'm not a part) not only prioritize the bot mode, they want that bot mode to be Sunbow accurate down to the animation errors. And frankly, it's a lot easier to nail a jet when you start with the Fighter and work backwards to Battroid than it is to take Sunbow's art, which didn't even particularly resemble the toys in the first season, and figure out how to make a vehicle out of it. It came out a lot like a Valkyrie, yeah... nice jet mode, skinny bot mode. But, like I said, Maverick had the luxury of starting with the plane and working backwards to bot mode. So we know Takara can make a solid jetformer, when they start with the jet mode. Which I think they'd do if they every did a Valkyrie.

I don't disagree that Fighter is main mode for a Valkyrie, but I think you guys might be thinking that I'm thinking of more drastic changes than I'm actually suggesting. I'm thinking more like using a mushroom swivel in a thicker swing bar for the hips, and shortening the intakes a bit so that the entire leg has the clearance to swivel without hitting the wing. Then a hinge inside the intake could move everything from the Gerwalk joint down laterally 90 degrees, but a compromise would likely have to be a cutout on the side of the intake for the hinge to pass through. The hinge could still be flush with the intake when in fighter mode, but you'd still have the seams. Another change I'd propose is attaching the slider for the feet to the inner side of the leg (or eliminating it entirely; the chunky monkeys didn't have sliders), and putting a hinge right around the vernier so the inside of the lower leg can bend out with the foot for greater ankle pivot (something I'll note that ThreeZero actually did do). I'd probably also suggest putting tabs on the shoulder joints to lock them into the chest, adding some kind of tab/slot/hook to secure the tail to the back in Battroid mode (that's a little more robust than Arcadia's), and maybe some flaps that can fold out from the panels that connect the chest to the back over the shoulders that can fill in the space behind the head without partsforming.

If they're going to do non-canon paints, I'd seriously kill for them to just do every Valk in Skull Squadron colors, like they did with the VF-4G. I'd buy one of everything in black & gold Jolly Rodgers, and none of the "standard" colors. Since the chances of Bandai actually doing that are basically zero, though, like I said before, I'm definitely not interested in the Fire Valkyrie. But I'd buy a VF-19P, either a YF-19 or a VF-19A (prefer the VF-19A, I never cared for the sandy color of the YF-19), and either a VF-19F or S.

I'd give it a pass for being dated if it weren't still apparently the gold standard for VF-1 toys. Like I said, I like it a lot, but I kind of want to see someone else take a crack at it. Was kind of hoping ThreeZero might pull that off, but reviews of the VF-1J make it seem like more of a lateral move. It might sound a bit heretical to the Macross-first crowd, but I think I'm ok with some liberties being taken with the fighter mode to make a better Battroid. Not the kind of goofy proportions that Unix Square is doing, just better joints (hinges and swivels, no ball joints) and sturdier plastic that isn't so thin in spots. I don't mind the thicker thighs. While I agree that I'm not really digging the visible trigger on the inner thighs, I do have to admit it's kind of a clever way to thicken his thighs up. Back's cleaner than the Legends version, but the tradeoff seems to be very visible hinges in the bottom of the chest and all over his forearms. Not digging the blueish face. Still, not a lot of options for CHUG-scale Megatrons that turn into a gun. Maybe I'll preorder one... Swing and a miss, NewAge. Now'd be a good time for Magic Square to swoop in and each NA's lunch on this. Heck, I'd settle for a fourth party to do an upscale KO of Magic Square's.

Took me awhile (stupid COVID), but my review for Fugu's Jetfire is up.

I feel a little weird doing this review... I feel pretty comfortable asserting that I'm pretty knowledgeable about Transformers, both from a fiction/lore POV and regarding Hasbro's output since at least the mid-2000s. But, while I enjoy Macross and have watched all the shows, I see myself as more of a layman when it comes to the franchise, and I'm just now dipping my toes into the realm of Macross toys. So here I am with Fugu Toys FG-01 Autobot Air Guardian Jetfire, a toy that I'm approaching as something like a Missing Link Jefire, prepared to review it as a Transformer because that's what it is to me. I have no other experience with this mold. And yet, I'm sure a lot of you will recognize this as a KO of Valkyrie Factory's own KO of Arcadia's VF-1S Super Valkyrie, and are likely far more intimately familiar with it than I am. I'm going to do something a little different than normal, and I'm first going to point out the box. Because, boy, is Fugu brazen! They've designed the box to be as close to the original G1 toy as possible. The artwork is ripped straight from the original, and uses all the same names and logos. Fugu just removed the barcode, added a "Fugu FG-01" after the "Autobot Air Guardian Jetfire," replaced the product photos, removed the Hasbro and Tatsunoko marks, and stripped all the faction symbols from the art. Which is why, despite some stores advertising this figure as "God of Flame," I'm not sure that's actually correct. The box and instructions just say "Autobot Air Guardian Jetfire." It seems to me that the God of Flame moniker is suggesting that this is actually a KO of the KitzConcept God of Flame, which was also an attempt to do the Jetfire colors but on a different toy. But, like I said, this isn't a KO KitzConcept, it's a KO of a KO of an Arcadia. Well... unless Fugu actually is Valkyrie Factory, just flying this one off under a different label in case Hasbro shuts it down. Because that box is practically daring Hasbro to shut it down. But I digress. I think, given that Fugu is working from a different base, they did an alright job capturing Jetfire's deco on the Arcadia VF-1. The red and black on the chest, shoulders, cockpit area, and leg fins, the red on the thighs, etc, are broadly correct. He's missing some of the other sticker details from the Jetfire toy, though, like on the toes, while other stickers have been replaced with more typical Macross-style markings, like the mechanical details on the original Jetfire's legs being replaced with a black stripe and "U. N. Spacy" markings. There's also the black heat shield with the Jolly Rodger, a carryover from the Arcadia toy but not something that's part of the original Jetfire. If you like, though, it seems like it's fairly trivial to pop the heat shield right off the slider if you want the exposed cockpit that the original Jetfire has. Like I said, I'm sure a lot of you are more familiar with this mold than I am, but for me it was interesting to see how thin it is. I know that G1 Jetfire was basically the old Takatoku VF-1S, and I know that those old Takatokus are often referred to as "Chunky Monkeys," but Fugu's Jetfire (and, I suppose, the Yamato/Arcadia VF-1), kind of show off how much anime magic was actually going into giving the VF-1 sleek proportions in fighter mode but heroic proportions in Battroid mode. Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about it. I mean, from a Macross perspective, the fighter mode is super important and a thinner Battroid is probably just more realistic. As Jetfire, the toy I remember as a kid, though, I think that chunkiness is almost part of the character. Despite watching Robotech as a kid (but I'm a Macross purist now, I swear!) I don't think I ever even made the association between Jetfire and the VF-1 at the time. Like the original Jetfire, Fugu Jetfire comes with a lot of accessories. More, even. Sure, he's got the red plastic to decode the tech specs on the the back, the gunpod, armor parts for the back of the arms, back of the legs, sides of the legs, a pair of boosters, and a part to connect the boosters to his back, like the original Jetfire. But you also get four black boxes with missiles molded in them, four racks of smaller missiles, two big missiles, two sets of paired big missiles, a translucent pilot, a chair, two neck fillers, two torso fillers, replacement TV-style fists, two gun-holding right hands (one TV, one DYRL), two open left hands (one TV, one DYRL), and a trio of stand adapters. The stand adapters are probably more useful if you got the Deluxe edition, which comes with a stand. Sadly, I did not. I should also point out that, unlike the original Jetfire, Fugu Jetfire's boosters and leg armors can come off (because that's how Arcadia's do). There's some really nice painted details inside. And on that note, my copy of Fugu Jetfire came with translucent red replacement covers, which could be a nice way of showing off that inner detail without having them naked. That said, I think the translucent parts were a preorder/first run bonus, so I can't promise that every copy will come with them. Jetfire's articulation is... ok? I mean, by modern Transformers standards it's not the best, but I guess it's kind of on par with what Hasbro did with Missing Link Convoy and it's definitely improved over the original Jetfire. His head swivels, no sideways tilt, and it sits on a pair of hinges so you can get some extreme upward and downward tilt, depending on how much you're willing to break the sculpt. Weirdly, the top of his head and face also hinges, revealing an odd double-chin underneath. The head lasers can swivel. His shoulders are on scary tight ball joints- I actually recommend sliding the outer covers off, opening up the shoulders and putting some silicone oil on the balls, and/or loosening the screws on the backs. Once they're safe to move they'll rotate and can move laterally maybe 60 degrees, if I'm being generous. Also, something I'm not used to, the shoulders are on flaps due to how he transforms. These flaps don't actually lock into anything, which kind of gives him butterfly joints. His biceps swivel, and his elbows are technically double-jointed and should curl nearly 90 degrees. Should, because on my copy (and, it seems, most/all copies) the left arm has a tight but usable upper joint, but the right arm is, "oh crap this is going to break!" tight and I can't use it. The stock hands can swivel, as well as bend up/down, with a solid thumb hinged at the base to move from along side the hand to over the palm, and fingers molded into curves but hinged at the base to open and close, with the index finger a separate part from the other three, which are molded together. No waist swivel. The hips are on ball joints. In theory, they could move forward and backward to ridiculous degrees, but in practice their forward/backward movement is all but eliminated by bumping into his wings. Fortunately, you can use a special hinge below the intakes (for Gerwalk mode) to get nearly 90 degrees forward. Going back to the ball joints, they allow the hips to move about 45 degrees laterally, and you can also swivel the thighs around the ball joints for some thigh swivel. There are dedicated swivels, though, just above the knees, which bend a bit under 90 degrees. His feet are ratcheted, and when fully slid out (which you technically do for Gerwalk, but you can fudge for robot/Battroid) have some up/down tilt. However, they don't really pivot. There's some wiggle in the foot itself that suggests the ankles could pivot in theory, they simply don't have the clearance at the bottom of the leg. Jetfire's pegs are simply pegged into his wrists and are easy to swap. If you used one of the fixed-pose hands the cutout in the grip is just the right size for the gunpod's hand to fit snuggly inside. If you use the stock hands, though, you'll need to line the slot in the handle with the tab on the inside of the palm. The slot in the gunpod's handle has another use, though. When you collapse most of the handle and the barrel you're left with a bit sticking out. That bit allows the slot to grab onto tabs on the outside of Jetfire's arm. While, yes, carrying the gunpod on the arm like that is something we see Valkyries do in Macross, it's important to note that it's also something the original G1 toy could do, although it required the use of a clip. Partsforming is a bit of a dirty word in the Transformers community, but I understand that it's pretty standard when it comes to Macross toys? I would say on Jetfire they're really optional, but from some angles you can look straight through the torso if you don't use them. So, for starters, there's a pair of white torso fillers. These slide up into the gap between his chest and back, with rods at the top that snap into the c-clips behind Jetfire's shoulders. As for the gap behind Jetfire's head, you have to options. First is this piece that clips right in, with the rounded protrusion pointing toward his back. This piece, you'll note, has little molded closed doors on it. There's a second neck filler that has open doors on it, with a slot in the middle. You can take the chair and plug it into the slot, and sit the pilot figure in the chair, to recreate that scene in the cartoon where they exit the Battroid this way. Not that it really makes sense for a sentient robot to have to do this... With Jetfire originally being a Macross toy, of course he does Gerwalk mode. I'm not really going to talk about it much, though, because for a Cybertronian it's less of a deliberate mode and more a midpoint in the transformation. In Fugu's case, a necessary midpoint. Unlike the original toy, you have to move the arms out of the way to give the swing bar enough clearance to move the hips to the nose, but you also can't move the arms unless you use the hinges behind the intakes to move the legs down to their Gerwalk position. The rest of the transformation is direct enough, since I guess there's only so many ways to transform a VF-1. The swing bar actually unlocks from the back of the nose (after moving a flap out of the way, and be sure to move the hinged fillers into place before closing that flap up so you don't have holes in the sides of the nose bulges. A door opens on the back for the head to swivel and then fit through so it ends up under the fuselage. The chest rocks up away from the cockpit, and the heatshield slides inside, then as it comes back down you need to line up slots in it with the marker lights on his back. Note that going from Battroid to fighter is simple enough, but going from fighter to battroid is super tight the first time you do it and you'll probably have to use more force than you really fell comfortable with. With the fuselage mostly done, you can bring the swing bar back into the same c-clips you stuck the torso filler bits into, tabbing the backs of the intakes into the underside of the chest as you do so. Fold the hands into the forearms, then they fold in but also swing around on sliders to so that the shoulders are touching, then the legs can be brought back along side them. Use the double hinge to bring the tail into place, fold the heels and toes together, and shove the feet up into the legs. When all is said and done, credit where it's due, the fighter mode is a lot more solid than the G1 toy (or rather, the Takatoku), which seems to rely more on friction from the toy's joints. In a vacuum, aside from the chibi nose, I don't think the G1 toy/Takatoku looks too bad, but side-by-side with Fugu/Arcadia it's apparent how chunky the older toy really is. Fugu is a much nicer fighter mode marred only by the fact that Fugu choice to use the UN Spacy kite on the sides of the fuselage and left wing, the black stripe and "U.N. SPACY" on the sides of the legs instead of the mechanical detail stickers, "001" on the right wing, and Jolly Rodgers on the horizontal stabilizers. On the flip side, though, you've got nice details like translucent landing lights on the wings, painted marker lights on the wing tips, and caution marks near the intakes. You can see the nozzles molded deep in the feet, and you can remove the intake covers to reveal painted intake fans if you like (though they're in stupid tight, and I broke a little tab off the one I removed). One other thing that's a nice little touch... in the black around the canopy, where the pilot's name is printed, Fugu put "Air Guardian Jetfire." They're not spring-loaded and full of diecast the way the original Jetfire's were, but Fugu Jetfire does have landing gear in both legs and under the nose. The doors are a bit of a paint to open, but once the landing gear is out you'll find rubber tires on rolling wheels, and the nose gear can swivel and has a hinged launch bar. Fighter mode is where I think you're going to get the most use out of your included accessories. The canopy opens to reveal a detailed cockpit interior. You can set the pilot figure into the seat. Again, this is something that probably makes a lot more sense when it's an actual Arcadia Macross toy, but I think Fugu making the pilot out of clear plastic is a nice touch, like the pilot is just a hologram. The various missiles and missile pods have small pegs in them that fit into little raised holes under the wings. To my taste it required a little more force than I'd have liked, but on the flip side they're not going to come out accidentally. As for the gunpod, the indents with the tabs on the outsides of his forearms where me stuck the gunpod in Battroid mode are mirrored on the insides of his arms, so you just sort of sandwich the gunpod's handle between them and squeeze so that the tabs grab into the slot on the handle. Now, going off the box art alone, it's not really Jetfire until he's got his FAST packs on. Disconnect his legs from his tail, and fold the tail up like you would for Gerwalk/Battroid. Attach the boosters to the connector, then slide the connector into the gap between the tail and his back. When it's in far enough tabs on the boosters will fit into slots on the tail, securing everything in place. The arm armor has clips with slots that fit over the same indented tabs we used for attaching the gunpod. As for the legs, the calf armor has a hook and a tab that fit into slots on the back of the leg. Just make sure that the tabs on the sides of the calf armor are pointing outward, because you'll plug the side-of-the-leg armor into those tabs. With the leg armor installed you'll have to bend the knee and Gerwalk joints a little, but the leg armor has slots that fit into tabs inside Jetfire's back to lock them into place, so once again everything feels nice and solid. A downside of moving the legs, though, means that the landing gear in them is lower, so the fighter is slanting toward the nose. This time, the "U.N. SPACY" on the leg armor doesn't bother me as much. I mean, it's still not accurate, but the black stripe it's printed on is. However, Fugu went with the DYRL-style Jolly Rodger on the boosters. I really wish they'd have just left it plain black, then I could stick an Autobot insignia on it (and the nose) and call it a day. Canopy still opens, you still have access to the landing gear, and you can still attach missiles/missile pods to the undersides of the wings. You can also still carry the gunpod on the underside of the fighter, because the arm armor has it's own intended tabs, same as the arms themselves. The extra bulk he gains from the FAST packs helps fill him out and make him feel more like Jetfire to me. Unfortunately, I don't think you can transform him without all the armor on. The stuff on the arms and legs, sure, but I found it necessary to remove the boosters and their clip so I could move the tail to open the door that allows his head to pass through. Jetfire's also a little back-heavy with all his gear on. The play between clicks in the ratchets in his feet can leave him leaning a bit. The simplest solution is put him into a more dynamic pose, with his legs turned outward a bit. Finally, here's how Fugu Jetfire looks with Siege Jetfire and Earthrise Starscream. And... huh. Y'know, I've always thought Siege Jetfire is a rather too big. Might not be exactly scale chart-accurate, but Fugu's Jetfire is about exactly the height I think Siege Jetfire should have been. Turns out a 1/60 VF-1 is probably too small for an MP collection, but pretty great for Classics/Generations/WFC/Legacy one*. *Unless you're one of those alt-mode scale guys... then the VF-1 being smaller than an MP Starscream's F-15 mode makes sense. I have to say, this has been an eye-opening experience for me. Jet Transformers are often ridiculed for being boxes of robot bits stuffed under a plane that transforms into a robot with 90% of the plane on its back. And, I mean, that's fair, but I think it's a lot harder to turn an animation-accurate robot into a jet on a Voyager-class budget than it is to design a jet first and work into a robot that you're going to sell for $100+. But now I'm also seeing that Valkyries do make compromises and do benefit from anime magic, they just priortized the fighter mode and made the compromises to the Battroid. What's more, Macross toys have traditionally seemed expensive to me, and I know some collectors have said that they have a more premium collector feel compared to Hasbro's Transformers. And yet, Fugu's Jetfire (and by extension, an Arcadia VF-1) has worse articulation than most modern Transformers, thinner plastic (that, IMHO, doesn't feel as good to handle), ball-jointed hips on scary thin rods, ball-jointed shoulders, and partsforming filler. I gotta say, if this is "premium collector" stuff, I honestly prefer the mass-market kids stuff. To be fair, some of it, like the plastic quality, could be due to his being a KO and not a genuine Arcadia, and the overly-tight shoulders and elbows and the excessive force required to separate the chest from the back are almost definitely due to it being a KO. Still, I can't help but wonder what a Takara-made VF-1 might be like. Don't get the wrong impression, though. I like Fugu's Air Guardian Jetfire quite a lot, and I think for the $125-ish I paid that he's a tremendous value. With the licensing issues involved a more modern Valkyrie toy with a close-enough paint job is likely the closest we're going to get to a Missing Link Jetfire. So, if you're a Macross fan that happens to like this deco, or a Transformers fan who wants a more toy-accurate Jetfire, and certainly if you're both, this is a toy I can comfortably recommend.

Not a new mold in the entire wave, and of the 8 figures in the wave 5 are straight up package refreshes. Looks like I'm saving money, because I only had to order Wheeljack, Breakdown, and Overcharge. Bit miffed to see Origins Bumblebee shoved into this wave. I get that the team wanted to get him back out there now that Origins Wheeljack is out and has the gimmicks where Bee can ride inside him and the Energon rods can clip onto Wheeljack's sides, but the fourth Deluxe slot was supposed to be G1 Sureshot, who was already bumped to wave 5 from wave 2. I'm trying to get some confirmation if he's still coming at all; sounds like he's in limbo.

Pulsecon wasn't particularly exciting. Maybe because they didn't reveal anything that I didn't already know... they showed off Dinoking at Comicon, and Legacy United Wave 5 is mostly package refreshes. Good for people that missed those figures the first time, but I only bothered to preorder Armada Wheeljack, G2 Breakdown, and (reluctantly) Overcharge. Likewise, all the Studio Series reveals were leaked, though it was my first time seeing Sentinel Prime. And they're not even going to go up for preorder until Transformers Day (September 17th). The team confirmed that the series will be Age of the Primes... which I also told you guys about months ago. No figures revealed (but I reported on leaks for basically the whole of 2025 anyway). And they showed nothing of SS86 Devastator. We apparently have to wait until October 27th for that.

We're getting a Missing Link Cliffjumper, so that's where Porsche stands. (Not to mention RotB Mirage, which Porsche themselves cross promoted with some clothes, of which I own the ball cap).

You guys gotta stop tempting me with more stuff than I ought to be buying right now.😋 Seriously, I think for now I'm going to stick with the VF-4G I have in hand, the VF-1S Striker and the VF-1J GBP I bought from @Reni, and the VF-0S I ordered on Amazon for now, with the the intention to buy a VF-2SS in the near future (probably the Nexx version, as I understand it has a few extra accessories and the only other difference is the color of the stripes). In theory, that should tide me over until Bandai releases new models (and a VF-19 that isn't the Fire Valkyrie), but I retain the option to buy a VF-0D and some more VF-1s (especially a VF-1A). As for non-HMR toys, the Yamato/Arcadias and the Bandai DXs are a bit more than I want to pay (for a single toy, at least, given that I could have bought one for what I've spent on HMRs in the last two or three weeks). I don't really have the space for larger toys anyway, especially when I'm thinking I'll likely keep them in fighter mode most of the time.

Hmm... wouldn't the older Yamato one be even closer to HMR scale? Both look to be more than I feel like paying for a VB-6 on the aftermarket, though. Got my pics ready to review God of Flame, then I think I'm going to hold off any Macross reviews until more of the HMRs I bought come in. For some reason I think it's best to start with the VF-1, then VF-0, then VF-4, even though the VF-4 is the only one I have actually in-hand yet.

Non-transforming mecha don't do much for me. I've never really cared for the Destroids, but if Bandai ever wants to do a VB-6 I could end up with Monster. As for enemy mecha, the Gnerl, Nousjadel-Ger, and Queadluun-Rau have never really spoken to me. I could possibly be persuaded to add a Regult do my collection, as I think it's by far the most iconic Zentradi mecha and the one that felt the most alien to me. Maybe even a Glaug, as I it seemed like the most natural "upgrade" to a Regult, but a quick search has them a bit pricey on the aftermarket (especially the Glaug). Now, if Bandai wants to make a Hi-Metal R SV-51, SV-262, Elgerzorene, Panzerzorene, or Saubergeran those are enemy mecha I can get behind (though, in the case of the Varauta mecha, I'd rather they put out a Hi-Metal R VF-14... not that it'll ever happen). EDIT: Oh, yeah, almost forgot. I'm lacking in willpower/self-control, and I did wind up ordering that VF-0. Four HMRs in less than a month... my poor wallet.

If there's one thing I've picked up from my last two reviews, it's that we skew older on this board and Earthspark or even Transformers One isn't going to spark the same interest toy-wise as the mainline. Unfortunately, there hasn't been much in the way of new stuff in the mainline lately (though hopefully the next wave of United and/or Studio Series starts shipping early, and we get some good new reveals at Pulsecon tomorrow). In the meantime, I have a few repaints for you guys. It's basically the remainder of Walmart's exclusive Star Raiders capsule (since it seems unlikely at this point that I'm going to find a copy of Filch...). Up first we have Deluxe-class Road Pig, who is straight up Junkion Crashbar with a new head. Same tailpipe accessories, same saddlebag guns, same one removable tire that turns into a bladed weapon. Which, hey, kind of vibes with the new ninja face. Anyway, as more repaint than retool he's got details like spikes on his shoulders, asymmetric legs, and a lack of a windshield that deviate a bit from his original G2 toy. However, (almost as if they planned this all along😉) the trio of lights on his chest is a pretty good match for the G2 toy, and the curved pipe pieces are done in translucent pink to mimic the light-up tailpipe weapon of the G2 toy. Transformation is the same as Crashbar. This of course means that, aside from still being a black motorcycle, his alt mode isn't particularly close to the G2 toy. But one of the more amusing things they did copy from the G2 is the "Transformers" brand tampoed on one side of the gas tank. So much for being in disguise, eh? I think Road Pig is ok. He's not super accurate to the G2 toy, but probably the best an obscure G2 character is going to get for an update. And at least the Crashbar mold was the better of the two Deluxe Junkion molds. I'm just wondering if we might yet get a Soundwave based off the canceled G2 toy the way we got the canceled G2 Jazz out of Road Rocket. Regardless, at a Deluxe price he's worth checking out if you're digging the idea of filling out a G2 collection, but you're not exactly missing much if you're Sunbow G1-only. Up next we have Thundertron. He's marked as a Leader-class, despite being a little more expensive than a regular Leader, and despite being mostly the same figure as the Voyager-class toy that was released earlier this very same year. The most obvious difference is the color, with the blue plastic a bit brighter, the blue paint swapped for a brighter and more metallic blue, and the copper paint swapped for gold. It's harder to tell, because it's only some of the gray plastic, but stuff like his sword, his coattails, and the outer toes on his feet are a darker gray. From the neck down, the only mold difference is that his right hand has been replaced with a hook. From the neck up, he's got an entirely new head sculpt. The shape of his helmet is different, and they painted the lines in the white part (which is a bit closer to the original Prime toy). His mouth is a bit smaller, with a new more elaborately-sculpted beard below his more gaunt face. His left eye doesn't seem to have the scars anymore, and is smaller, while his right eye is covered in a (somewhat softly molded) eye-patch. The new head, taken with the right hand that's been replaced with a hook, sort of gives the impression that the regular United release is a younger version of Thundertron, and the Star Raiders version is an older version that's been through some stuff. You can further that visually by leaving his foot attached on the original release but partsforming it onto the sword and going with the peg leg on the Star Raiders version. With the head and hand tucked away in alt mode, though, color becomes the only visual difference there. Now, just my opinion, but the hook hand, new head, and brighter colors make me prefer the Star Raiders version, but the differences are minimal enough that it's not exactly worth picking up Thundertron for Thundertron alone if you already bought the United version. Which really begs the question, why did Hasbro do this? Like, yes, I get that they like to get an extra use or two out of a mold, but as a toy-only character from late in the Prime line Thundertron was already an obscure enough of a character that I questioned his presence in United in the first place. Not even a year later and we're getting the arguably superior version in a store capsule where he kind of always belonged, if you ask me. And capsules are planned out in advance. Hasbro knew they were doing Star Raiders for Walmart. Am I to believe that Hasbro wanted to do Thundertron for Star Raiders, but couldn't think of a another use for the mold, so they came up with an alternate Thundertron head and slotted him into the mainline? It's already been pointed out, though, that this mold would make for a pretty good Cyberverse Thunderhowl... Hasbro probably should have done Thunderhowl in United and only put out one Thundertron this year. If you do have United Thundertron, what would tempt you to buy another one? And how does he go from a Voyager to a Leader? By packing in more pirates! One of those would be Nightstrike, who's a retool of Micromaster Ratbat. If you're not familiar with Nightstrike, I don't blame you. He was a minor villain in the 2015 version of Robots in Disguise. He had a bat alt mode; his robot mode wasn't seen until he appeared in the Titan Titans toyline. Star Raiders Nightstrike leans into that lack of a bot mode in the cartoon by making the bat mode his alt mode. And now his alt mode is... well, if you squint at it right, the black markings make a stylized skull on a white background, like an inverted Jolly Rodger. Nightstrike, then, turns into the Star Raiders' pirate flag. If you look at the top of Thundertron's shoulders, you may have noticed that his left shoulderpad has a 5mm port on the top, but his right has a pair of slots. Turns out, these slots are just the right size for Nightstrike's feet, allowing him to perch on Thundertron's shoulder like a pirate's parrot. What's funny is that the shoulders are not remolded from the United release; Siege Ratbat could always perch on United Thundertron's shoulder. We just never thought to do it. Nightstrike as a character doesn't necessarily impress me, especially as RID 15 was so bad that I definitely couldn't get through it and have no recollection of him. As an accessory, though, I dig him. He's not exactly worth re-buying Thundertron for, though, nor does he alone justify the price tag. There's one more figure in the box, though... Deluxe-class Calcitron. Calcitron is bascially Magneous with a new head and a a brighter, blue deco. Unlike Nucleous, the head is the only part that's remolded from Magneous. It's fine, though. I like the new head, it reminds me a bit of Rock Lords Saberstone, and the blue deco really pops on him. As much as I've railed against gimmicky original characters taking up slots, and as much as I've pointed out that they don't actually bear all that much aesthetic similarity to the Rock Lords that supposedly inspired them, and for all I've pointed out that it's kind of weird that they're rock robots that turn into rock vehicles instead of just being robots that turn into rocks like the Rock Lords, they've honestly been my favorite gimmick since the Weaponizers gave me all the missing guys packed in with the G1 citybots back in the day. I can't help but notice, though, that this is really the third use of the Magneous mold. And when Geocron hits we'll have two of the little Core-class rock bike dude. But the best Armorizer mold has only been used for Shard. At this point, it's making it hard for me to imagine that Calcitron is actually with the Star Raiders. Instead, I imagine that the Autobots war with the Decepticons has taken the them to the planet Infernac, where there's a bunch of dudes like Magneous, Calictron, Nucleous, Bouldercrash, and Geocron who all serve their Queen Shard. And that sort of makes Calictron the highlight for me. If you don't have any Thundertron, then buying the Star Raiders set is worth it to get the best version of an alright figure, a bat that turns into a pirate flag, and another cool minion for Queen Shard. I recommend it! But if you already have United Thundertron double-dipping on him just to get Calcitron and Nightstrike is a harder sell.

Funny you mention it, I just bought the DYRL VF-1S Strike from a board member, @Reni We worked out a deal good enough that I bought the VF-1J with GBP armor from him while I was at it. I saw, and despite bought three HMRs in less than a month already I'll probably pull the trigger on that. After that I'll probably have to let my wallet cool off a bit, but I'll probably get the VF-2SS eventually, too. (I just wish I had some better skills as a customizer, too. Then I'd repaint the red or blue on the VF-2SS, as some black stripes to the wings, put some black and yellow on the stabs...)

Huh. Assuming I only want one of each variant I'm not super behind. While I don't hate Macross 7 (I actually really like it!), I'm not a fan of faces on Valks. I'm in for a YF-19/VF-19A, a VF-19F/S, or even a VF-19P, but not the Fire Valkyrie. That said, I do hope Bandai finishes Sound Force, if only because it'll make a VF-11B/C and a VF-17D/S more likely. Those I actually do want.

Earthspark has turned out to be one of my less-liked Transformers shows. I'm not even sure if I bothered to watch every episode. That said, I did admire that they tried to create some new characters and do something different, and I was interested in having the Maltobots in my collection. They came out of the gate with a Deluxe Twitch, and they got Nightshade in the initial build-a-figure group. Thrash was one of the initial Warrior-class figures, but he managed to get a Deluxe glow-up. I very nearly caved and ordered the Warrior-class Jawbreaker, and I'm glad I didn't, because not long after hearing that Earthspark is dead we suddenly got a Deluxe-class Jawbreaker. My gut reaction was to think, "man, these proportions are terrible!" Terribly accurate, actually. I went back and looked, and sure enough, Jawbreaker's arms really do hang that low. The sculpt is actually pretty decent, it's the colors that are a bit off. The teal paint that they slathered on the front of his thighs doesn't belong there, it belongs on his biceps and pelvis. His forearms are molded in yellow plastic with orange paint, but the orange paint doesn't cover enough; there should be no yellow on his forearms. That goes for his hands and the tops of his feet, too, which should match his thighs. To add to the odd paint choices, his torso is molded in the same dark plastic as his pelvis, and that's accurate! So why'd they paint most of it orange? The part that they didn't paint is the only part they should have painted, because it should be red. I don't like Earthspark enough to pay more than regular US retail, but if you're really picky you could import the Takara version, which has an accurate deco. Back and side views... a bit hollow in spots, and I can't remember if the dino head is supposed to be that visible. But the claws on the forearms check out. Jawbreaker comes with a pair of guns and a tail. Jawbreaker's head is on a ball joint. Can't really look down, but he's got decent enough sideways tilt and he can look up. His shoulders swivel, and they have hinges nearly 90 degrees of lateral movement, but unfortunately they're on the wrong side of the swivels. His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend 90 degrees forward or backward. No wrist swivel, but his entire forearm swivels below the elbow, so that kind of works. No waist swivel. His hips are ball joints that go 90 degrees forward or backward, but only about 45 degrees laterally. No thigh swivels. His knees bend over 90 degrees. No up/down tilt on the feet. He technically does have ankle pivots, though they're very limited. The tail has a hinged 5mm peg that lets you put it in his hand like a whip. He can also hold the guns, but if you need a place to store them there are 5mm ports on the outsides of his shoulders for the guns, and his tail can plug into the 5mm port on his butt. Jawbreaker's transformation is pretty easy, but a tad finnicky. Rotate his head, then flip the dino head up and over his face. Keep pushing on it so that his robot head collapses into his chest. Untab the sides of his torso (revealing his little dino arms) and just hinge them out of the way. Bend his lower body backward and fold his legs lower legs behind his thighs. If you did it right, notches in in the back of his feet will line up with the ridges on the back of his collar. Once the legs are in place, you can use the hinges to swing the sides of his torso back. The finnicky part is that there's two slots on the insides of those torso bits, and they need to line up with tabs on his robot hips and his legs near his ankles. Turn his forearms below his elbows so the claws are facing forward, then unfold the claws (which will cause the hands to swing to the back). Lastly, take his tail and plug it into his butt. From the front the dino mode doesn't look too bad, though if you get low enough you can kind of see through his legs. He's also got the color issues that carried over from bot mode. From the back and side, though, we have issues. He's got giant robot feet sticking up off his back. You can more clearly see that his legs have holes in them, but also robot fists just hanging out back there. At least his tail looks a lot better than the Warrior-class version. Jawbreaker's dino head can't swivel or tilt, but his jaw opens. His little dino arms are on ball joints so they can swivel and splay outward a little at the shoulders. His hips are his robot shoulders, so they do have the swivels and lateral movement, though technically in dino mode they're supposed to be tabbed into a fixed position. Likewise, his bicep swivels are retained as thigh swivels, and and his elbows-turned-knees still bend 90 degrees in either direction. He still has the swivel below the elbow/knee. And technically the digitigrade ankle has some tilt based on how much or how little you fold in his robot hands. The claws can tilt down, due to how he transforms, but not really upward, and he has no dino ankle pivot. His tail's 5mm peg was hinged, you recall, so it can tilt up. As for his guns, they plug into his dino hips... which were his robot shoulders, which is where they stowed in bot mode. Jawbreaker's not the worst of the Earthspark Deluxes. That honor probably still goes to Megatron or Prowl. He's not one of the better ones, though. Unless you really want all the Terrans, it's probably best to avoid this one. If you do want all the Terrans, then you probably have the same question I do... where the heck is Hashtag? So far the only figure for her has been a Tacticon (though a Warrior-class figure is supposedly coming).