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mikeszekely

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  1. mikeszekely
    I've only seen Transformers on the big screen. In 1986.
  2. mikeszekely
    What size do you want? If you want smaller than the original MP Megatron, but still sized with MP-10, you have six-ish options. The first three should be available about now, the second three are still a ways off. X-Transbots Apollyon: this was the first "MP" Megatron after the original MP-5, and while it was a big improvement over MP-5 it has some issues with QC, frustrating transformation, and (IMHO) kibbly legs and too soft of a face sculpt. DX9 Mightron: Simple transformation, great head, good proportions on the fusion cannon, and currently the cheapest "MP" option. Some people don't like the legs, though, he carries a bit of kibble on his back, and he's got hollow gaps in his chest visible under his arm pits. Confusingly, DX9 also has a Legends-scale Megatron also named Mightron. Maketoy's Despotron: He's the beefiest option, for better or worse. Some people are iffy on the head. Has a clever transformation that does a great job of hiding kibble like his trigger, but has the most sacrifices in gun mode. This is the one I'd personally go with. Bold Forms Gladius the Dark Emperor: An interesting take that will supposedly have both a handgun and a tank mode. He's based more on Megatron's design in IDW's Transformers: Escalation series than G1, though, which has a lot of people wondering why he's MP-sized and not Voayger-sized, since there's a perception that MP-scale figures need to be G1 and only G1. Also, it's the second project from the guys who gave us Lone Wolf, who wasn't well-liked. Rumored MP Megatron: photos recently leaked of a prototype figure that's supposedly a new Takara MP Megatron. We don't know if it's for real or not. Generation Toy GT-2 Leader: The least G1 of the Megatrons on this list. He's based on another IDW design, and turns into a stealth bomber. If you're into it, though, GT's also doing an IDW Optimus Prime to go with him. If that's still too big, there's Combiner Wars Leader-class Megatron: Going smaller into the more Voyager-sized toys, there's ToyWorld's Hegemon: I personally own this one; he's not the greatest, but he's not too hard to transform and he scales great with the Voyager-sized MP-10 KO. There's also Megasteel's Granville/Tronus. He's based on yet another IDW design, and isn't supposed to be very good. If you can wait a month or three, Maketoys has Rioter Despotron, an original Megatron-inspired design that's part of their Cross Dimension series Hasbro is also working on a Voyager-class Megatron for the Titans Return line. There's also Classics "Nerf Gun" Megatron floating around with a few repaints. I think that about covers your options from Voyager through MP. If you want smaller still, I can go over your Deluxe and Legends-sized options.
  3. mikeszekely
    Thank goodness for the preorder price guarantee! Makes me glad I preordered back in June.
  4. mikeszekely
    I don't mean it as a slight to anyone who likes it, I just mean that, well, he's kind of boring. The translucent parts are green, the red is purple, but the gray is still gray and the blue is still blue (albeit darker). Where's the weathering? Where's the "Til All Are Gone" graffiti? The MP-10 KOs done in SG colors had that stuff.
  5. mikeszekely
    SG Prime is kind of boring.
  6. mikeszekely
    In non-MP news, I found the second wave of Titans Returns Deluxes. And even though I keep swearing I'm done with Hasbro I picked up all four. The worst is Highbrow. He seems to be a backwards retool of Scourge. In bot mode he's got a cockpit chilling on his back and he lacks the folding panel Scourge had to hide the mostly hollow lower leg. In alt mode, his legs make for a comically chunky tail and his arms fail to look like anything but arms. Mindwipe is a little better. I daresay the way his legs become his bat wings is clever, even. He's a little awkward in both modes, though, and I'm not at all a fan of his organic bat head. Weirdwolf (or whatever they're calling him now) is solid. The translucent red fangs make it look like he just ate somebody. No transformation issues. I wish the yellow parts of his leg locked in wolf mode. I prefer UUUU's leaner alt mode and more clever transformation, but compared to other Hasbro figures I'd say he's above average. He's the second best in the wave, and I'd say only Blurr tops him from the previous wave. Chromedome is the star of the wave, and the only one I might even like better than the Function-X version. He's more dynamic in appearance, though he does that by borrowing from the IDW version. Usually 3P beats Hasbro with better articulation, but they're both lacking wrists and ankles, so that's a wash. Code sure have a better transformation, though. TR Chromedome is basically a retool of CW Dead End/Prowl/Streetwise/Smokescreen/Wildrider. That would be a bigger deal if that wasn't one of the best molds to come out of the whole CW line. They had wave 2 of the Legends, but I passed on them. None of them seemed particularly worth $10 (and I'm firmly in the Frenzy is red, Rumble is Blue camp). I've yet to see a single Voyager or Leader from TR. Those shelves are either empty, occupied by some version of AoE Grimlock, or sometimes Scattershot in the Voyagers and Skywarp in the Leaders.
  7. mikeszekely
    His legs don't really make up for his kitty bitty waist and huge diaper.
  8. mikeszekely
    I like Manus, and I'm probably in for the whole Cross Dimension line (I already preordered Rioter Despotron), but I don't see myself doing repaints. MP10-V, on the other hand, if buy in pretty much any color they choose. Ultra Magnus white, Powered Convoy blue, BAPE green, Nemesis black, Evangelion purple, Shining Ultra Magnus yellow... I'll even take a Pepsi Convoy.
  9. mikeszekely
    If TFSource doesn't get Cyberjaw in soon, I won't be able to ship my stack before I leave for vacation. That means this might be my last review until late October, so here's Maketoys' Striker Manus, the ultra-stylized Optimus Prime from their new Cross Dimension line. When I first got Manus out of the box I was impressed by how big he was. It wasn't until I got him side-by-side with Classics Optimus and KBB's MP10-V that I realized that some of his size was just an illusion. He's got a lot of presence that makes him seem bigger than he really is. Talking about aesthetics with Manus is difficult, because a lot of times I talk about how G1 a figure is, the ways it departs from G1 and why, or tell you whether or not I like a figures aesthetics. With the Cross Dimension line, though, Maketoys is taking their designers off their leashes and letting them run with their own alternate Transformers dimension. Manus even comes with a comic that basically shows Despotron (Megatron) ripping the Rubicon (Matrix) out of Manus' chest, Manus trying to grab it back and breaking it, and somehow rebooting the universe in the process. So Striker Manus is visibly Optimus Prime what with the red arms, chest windows, grill abs, face plate, antenna, vented blue legs, etc. But while Striker Manus is supposed to be Optimus, he's not G1 Optimus, and he's not trying to be. Despite the licenses that Maketoys has taken with Optimus, he does seem to have taken a lot of inspiration from one particular version of Optimus... Classics Optimus Prime. And it's more than the flaps on his arms, the broad chest with the narrow waist, and the yellow squares on the knees. Turn them around, and you can see how they both have a fake grill in their abdomen while the real grill hangs out on their backs. The big thing, though, is that Manus is less kibbly. The arm flaps are smaller and less obtrusive. The bumper and front tires actually tuck up inside his torso so his grill is resting against his back instead of jutting out from it. Striker Manus' gun even seems to be largely inspired by Classics Optimus, and like Classic Optimus' it turns into a wind vane for alt mode. The biggest selling point for Striker Manus is probably his articulation. His head is on a ball joint that can rotate, look down a bit, tilt his head laterally a fair amount, and look up about 45 degrees. His shoulders have hinges for 90 degrees of lateral movement, but the hinge is actually on a ball joint for rotation and even a bit of butterfly movement. He's got bicep and wrist swivels. His elbow is single jointed despite looking like it should be double jointed, but it gets better than 90 degrees of bend. Manus' fingers are hinged at the base, and his pointer is separate from the other three. There are grooves on his weapon handles that allow them to slide into small channels in his hands so he holds his weapons very securely. His waist swivels, and although he can't turn all the way around like a lot of transforming toys do he gets the full range of what I'd consider to be natural. He's got a very deep ab crunch, approaching 90 degrees of bend. His hip skirts and swivel up and down, but the joint is set back further so it looks like the hip skirts are sliding up and down. It's hard to describe and feels somewhat organic, but it means that his universal hips get a little under 90 forward and 90 degrees back. The fuel tanks on his hips prevent them from doing the full splits, but he gets close. His thighs have swivels. His knees are double jointed and he can bend them all the way back until his heel touches his butt. His ankles have a hinge for a little forward and backward tilt, plus his toes have second hinge that give them more upward tilt. He also has a dedicated swivel for inward ankle tilt, and his ankle tilt is pretty extreme. A lot of people at TFW are complaining that they wished that Striker Manus came with a gun more like Optimus' G1 rifle, but personally I think it's fine. Like I said, he's not G1 Optimus. If you prefer, though, you can remove Manus' smokestacks and he can wield them as axes with translucent orange edges. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any storage for his gun in bot mode short of holding it. So if you need to free up a hand, it's a good thing that Manus' axes can actually connect by putting their handles into peg holes under the blade. Alt mode is Manus' weakest mode. I wouldn't say it's bad, but all the stylized angles and and ridges result in a truck that doesn't really look like anything on Earth, but it's not exactly Cybertronian either. Like a lot of Maketoys products, transforming him involves fitting a lot of tabs into a lot of slots. Once done, though, everything fits together securely. My plan was to use Striker Manus in as the Optimus in my 3P display; since he's a bit taller than your average limb-bot I figured he'd be a good size. As I fill out my Autobots with guys like Bee, Invisible, and MP Prowl and Wheeljack, though, I can't help but think that MP10-V is the better fit. Ultimately, he might end up in a separate display with my Function-X guys. And that's why recommending him is kind of tough. He's a really good toy who's very fun to pose, but I honestly don't feel like he's a good fit for either MP or CHUG. It makes it difficult to buy him without expecting to buy into more of the Cross Dimension line. I'm ok with that; I like the fresh look and even the fiction Maketoys is giving the characters, but if you're only going to buy one Optimus this year I still prefer MP10-V.
  10. mikeszekely
    From what I understand, pretty much all the big retailers are referring you directly to ToyWorld now. Anyway, I used their service site to submit a claim for the rear wheel hinges on Burden (Long Haul) within days of them opening the site. The site was a pain to navigate, required pics, and was too easy to fill out and save your claim without submitting it, but once I jumped through all the hurdles my experience was that I got zero communication. No emails confirming my request, no emails saying they were sending replacement parts, nothing. I just happened to log back in after a while and saw that the status of my claim was a tracking number. I wound up getting a small box, and inside was the outer green part for both legs, with new black hinges made of a noticeably different plastic and new wheels (but not the rubber tires). I'd estimate it was about three weeks from the time I submitted my request until the parts arrived. However, I should mention that I'm hearing that some people are saying that they've had requests that they've submitted after I did that have gone four or more weeks without showing anything shipped. One member of TFW who was in regular communication with ToyWorld says he hasn't heard anything from them in quite awhile, like they've gone dark.
  11. mikeszekely
    I loved Sleeping Dogs. It's a shame more people didn't play it.
  12. mikeszekely
    It's going to take more than a gray prototype (especially one with a crooked barrel) to convince me that Takara will do any better than DX9 or Maketoys. When I'm paying $100+ for a toy I want the best one. Takara gets no special consideration just for being "official".
  13. mikeszekely
    Decided that I couldn't wait for vacation and started playing Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
  14. mikeszekely
    The problem for me isn't paying for a service or whether or not it has commercials. For me it's this notion the networks seem to have that their content is so good that I'm going to pay CBS for their streaming service, and NBC, and HBO, and whoever else, on top of Netflix, on to of Amazon, etc, until I'm paying more in streaming than I ever did for cable. The frustrating thing is that CBS actually is using Netflix outside the US. I can't think of anything what CBS has that I really want to see, and as much as I love Star Trek I'm not paying for their streaming service just for Discovery. I'll wait for the Blu-ray, or for it to go on (American) Netflix.
  15. mikeszekely
    If you're not getting too Constructiconned out, I picked up Generation Toy's Dump Truck, their version of Long Haul. As with their Scrapper, Dump Truck is obviously a pretty stylized take on Long Haul. Quite frankly, I dig it. Maybe because I'm a fan of the IDW comics, maybe it's because everyone else does specialized things but Long Haul just carries heavy stuff, but I'm totally on board with Long Haul being the team's muscle. GT gives Dump Truck a burly look, but manages to avoid giving him freakish proportions the way Combiner Wars Long Haul or Maketoys' Dump Truck does. And yet, unlike ToyWorld's Burden, GT's Dump Truck forms the waist, his, crotch, and thighs for their combiner. As long as we're comparing with TW's Burden, I greatly prefer Dump Truck's silver head, and he's also got big heel spurs with rubber bits on the bottom, so he gets the points for stability. I'm also a fan of the stairs across his torso; they kind of look like a bandolier across his chest. My biggest complaint, aesthetically speaking, is that he's got silver thighs and purple arms. That complaint goes for Burden and CW Long Haul, too, and as I noted when I reviewed Burden that's toy accurate, if not the cartoon accuracy I'd prefer. In terms of accessories, Burden's still pretty sparse but he does come with a little more than Scraper did. There is, of course, his gun, but there's also the chest plate for combined mode, and an alternate black head that matches the box art. I think it's cool that they had their vision of what they wanted the characters to look like, but they also give you a more G1 option so you can decide which you prefer. Dump Truck's head is on ball joint; he can rotate his head and look up and down a little, and he can tilt his head a little in apparent confusion. The chunk of the dump truck bed is hinged and can go all the way back (which it needs to for combined mode) or all the way forward like it is in truck mode. The instructions actually tell you to put it all the way forward, like a hood, but I don't associate Long Haul with a hood and usually position it somewhere in the middle. His shoulders are similar to Scraper's and can extend laterally about 90 degrees as well as rotate. His elbow is a single-joint hinge that gets you 90 degrees. He's got a bicep and wrist swivel, and due to his transformation he also has a swivel mid forearm. His waist can swivel, as long as you keep the obvious combined-mode pelvis folded up onto his butt. He's got thigh swivels and universal hips. He's got nice strong ratchets for lateral movement all the way into the splits (and enough clicks that he doesn't go from stock straight to super-wide A-stance). Disappointingly, his hips seem to just be friction joints forward and backward. They're capable of going all the way forward and backward, but you'll have to move the kibble on his butt to go backward. As for forward, his hip skirts don't move independently, and the hip armor is actually pegged in place. If you unpeg it the whole thing can hinge upward and give you the full range, but otherwise the hip armor severely hampers his forward range. His knees are friction hinges that get you 90 degrees. His feet are on ball joints and can get a good 45 degrees of inward ankle tilt, plus a fair amount of upward/downward tilt and even some ankle rotation. His hands have all the fingers molded together on a single hinge at the base so his hand can open and close. The trigger finger is molded out slightly further, which is nice. The handle on his gun doesn't have any pegs or tabs and is a little short, but if you push his fist closed around the handle he can hold his gun tightly enough. My biggest complaints with Dump Truck's bot mode are mostly illustrated from behind. There are large cavities in his back. Flip down panels are meant to cover them, but there's still plenty of gap visible. Likewise, you can fold it up and try to minimize it but his butt is clearly the combiner pelvis. Less obvious in pictures but still annoying are the silver kibbles on his forearms and the folded up panels on the sides of his lower legs. They're not secured in any way and will rotate freely as you pose him. It's not the end of the world, but something a tab or two would have fixed. I do like how neatly the rear wheels fold away into his legs, though. Do note that if you're having trouble getting the tires into his legs that you should check the position of the combiner ports. The instructions kind of gloss over this, but you really want them set so that they're pointing forward. That'll give you the room you need for the tires to fit under them. All-in-all, while I acknowledge both that TW's Burden is more G1 accurate and that GT's Dump Truck isn't perfect, between the two I like Dump Truck for bot mode. On to vehicle mode, where Dump Truck turns into a dump truck. Here' the little details like the safety railing, stairs, and ladders don't just help Dump Truck look detailed, they add realism and a sense of scale. You know he's not just a dump truck, he's the kind of huge dump truck capable of hauling 200+ tons, like something Komatsu makes. When we look at the top, though, we see that Dump Truck has fallen into the same trouble that Maketoys' version did. His bed is full of kibble from both the combined-mode pelvis and his own feet. You can't really see it from the pictures, but if you were to look closer you'd see that he's also got gaps and generally look more like folded up robot bits than a truck bed. TW's Burden really takes the edge here. Just like Maketoys', GT's Dump Truck can carry the combined-mode chest plate, further adding to his junk-filled bed. One plus, though, is that the gun stores in alt mode like an exhaust pipe behind the truck and under the bed rather than pegging on the roof or the side. I said before when I reviewed Maketoys' Dump Truck that Long Haul seems to be the trickiest Constructicon to do. Even ToyWorld, who used partsforming for so much of Constructor that they just had to make a good robot that turned into a good dump truck, had problems with Long Haul. Calling it between Burden and GT's Dump Truck is tougher because they're really close, and which you prefer will ultimately come down to which compromises you subjectively are better able to live with. Burden's greater G1 accuracy means nothing to me when it's still toy colors, and I actually dig Dump Truck's stylized look. By the same token, I'll take a few panels that don't lock down over difficulty standing up. I do think Burden has the cleaner alt mode, but I expect I'll have Long Haul as a robot or combined with the others far more than I'd display a dump truck. I think it's more important to have a better robot mode, and in this case I think that's Dump Truck, so I'll go ahead and recommend him with the same cautionary disclaimer that I'm saying he's purely a better Long Haul and you might want to wait to see how the rest of the set and combined mode goes.
  16. mikeszekely
    Stay tuned, I've got at least two more before I leave for China (hopefully more; I'm waiting for TFSource to get in a preorder that most of the other big stores already got). Oh, and I'm amending my review of GT's Scraper. I was too lazy to pull apart ToyWorld's Constructor when he came in, but after giving it some thought (and going through Giant) I feel like Generation Toy vs ToyWorld is what most people are actually going to want to see as I get the GT Constructicons in. So... Combiner Wars Scrapper, GT's Scraper, and ToyWorld's Shovel, robot modes. Let's be honest, MT's Wheel Loader is out, and was always going to be out, and I don't have TFC's version of Scrapper. Of these three, CW Scrapper looks the most like the cartoon, but I'm not a fan of his thin feet, hollow forearms and the backs of his legs, or his lack of articulation. Shovel is the most "MP-sized", and has a nice blend of G1 aesthetics and greater detail. GT's is the most stylized, but he feels the most dynamic in hand and is probably the most fun of the three. The same three in alt mode. CW Scrapper's cartoonish appearance is, in my book, a huge con here. With his open canopy Shovel is actually the most G1 accurate of the three. Although he's got a bit more color, he's also pretty close to the G1 toy. Again, though, I'd say my favorite is Scraper. While one might argue that all the little details make him look too busy, I really dig how GT tried to give Scraper a realistic alt mode. Of course, that's just between Scrappers. Considering I initially went with ToyWorld because I thought their Constructicons looked better but I'm now getting the GT Constructions because I wound up not liking how ToyWorld's combined Devastator looked you guys might want to wait until I do this for all six + combined mode.
  17. mikeszekely
    Yeah, Grapple is looking a lot better than Inferno.
  18. mikeszekely
    Wrapping up a long weekend by wrapping up a combiner review. Tonight we're doing Maketoys' Giant, their version of Devastator and (if I'm not mistaken) the first full 3P combiner (at least the yellow version, anyway). While the individual Constructicons were a bit of a letdown, there's no question that Maketoys nailed Devastator. The colors and proportions are spot on. The black treads actually give him a bit of symmetry and break up the green, and I find that I don't miss the purple and green as much in this mode. And the realistic alt modes give Giant a level of detail that makes him look like an actual robot made of actual construction vehicles instead of merely a toy or a cartoon. I think it's a testament to the design that after how many years and how many Devastators Giant is still one of the best-looking. Giant's head is on a ball joint. His shoulders have ratchets for both rotation and lateral movement. The elbow parts have soft ratchets for bending as well as a swivel. His wrists can swivel, and each finger can move independently, although they're not as articulated as more modern combiner hands. Each pin is hinged at the base and molded into a curve with no additional joints. The thumb is connected to the hand on a ball joint and molded straight, again with no additional joints. He does have a waist swivel, although it's impeded by the tires on his hips. Speaking of hips, they're ratcheted universals for forward/backward and lateral movement. I didn't test the range in combined mode, but they're Dump Truck's hips and should be similar. Both his knees and his thigh swivels are ratcheted. The big ball joints in Wheel Loader and Mixer Truck's waist become ball jointed ankles for Giant. Giant's gun is made by combining the six individual weapons. The handle has tabs that fit into slots on Giant's palms, and he holds the gun quite securely. Up to this point in the review (aesthetics and articulation), the biggest complaint I have are the hip and knee joints, plus the Wheel Loader foot. Despite being ratcheted, the hips and knees aren't really strong enough. Combine that with the fact that Wheel Loader gets a lot of his stability from the fact that the partsforming engine piece holds his arms together and I wound up with issues keeping Giant upright, and you could forget dynamic poses for his legs. A lesser aesthetic complaint is that there are flaps that open up on Mobile Crane to reveal the shoulder ports. They don't really fold down or anything. You can kind of lose the left one in the crane, but the one on his right just sits there. Giant comes in the giftset with two heads. The one on the left is the alternate, and is based on the head that came with Yellow Giant. I like the more normal Devastator face and silver forehead on it, but I have all kinds of issues with it. The socket seems too small; I couldn't get it on the ball joint with any amount of force I felt comfortable using. Even supposing I could get it on, it can't fold up the way the other face does, nor is the socket cut enough that it could tilt all the way down, so there'd be no way to hide it on Mobile Crane outside of combined mode. And the reason it doesn't transform seems to be because there might be electronics inside. I say might because there's a tiny switch on it, but toggling the switch didn't do anything on my copy, and I couldn't find any way to open it up to put batteries in it. You do get some nice options with the default head, though. You can do eyes, or you can slide down a visor, plus the mouth (weird as it is) can open. A nice touch with Giant is that Mobile Crane's boom can fold down over his back. Sure, a real crane's boom wouldn't have a joint like that, but to me it's always made more sense to have that joint than to have the boom just jutting out behind him like that. You can also see that those chromed parts that go with Dump Truck are still just kind of chilling out back there. They do have a use now that we're in combined mode, though. You can turn them around, the fold Giant's fists back in and plug them into his wrists to give Giant... screwdrivers. One Philips head, one flat head. The crane boom can also be detached. You can take apart the gun, then put the pieces on the boom to give Giant a kind of melee weapon (not pictured). Size-wise, Maketoys has largely stuck with scaling their newer combiners to Giant, so Giant looks great with Quantron, M3, and Guardia. However, almost every 3P combiner that isn't from Maketoys or Fansproject is "Warbotron-scaled" (that is, the size of Warbotron's Bruticus plus or minus and inch or two). If you've got combiners from Warbotron, TFC, MMC, or UT then Giant is going to come up short, and it should go without saying that he's much smaller than ToyWorld's Constructor. Like Maketoys' other combiners, Giant is approximately the same size as most Combiner Wars combiners. In fact, I think Giant goes with them a lot better than the actual Combiner Wars Devastator. In the course of my review, I've mentioned most of the problems and complaints I have with Giant. I think the only other thing I need to mention is that there's a bit of play between Mobile Crane's legs. This is a big deal because Dump Truck connects to Mobile Crane in just two places with hooks. One of the hooks grabs Mobile Crane between his legs, but because of the play the hook can come back out even if you're not pressing the release. It's not so bad that Giant's top is just going to fall off, but if you pick him up from the top expect to only get half of him. Recommending Giant is a bit complicated. Look at the following questions: -Do you want a good-looking Devastator that you're never going to take out of combined mode? -Do you want a Devastator that's closer in size to your Combiner Wars guys, and you don't mind that the Constructicons often bear little resemblance to their G1 counterparts? -Are you looking for a Devastator to display with M3, Quantron, and Guardia, but no other 3P combiner? If you answered yes to one of those three questions, then I think you're probably ok picking up Giant. Like I said before, I still think he's one of the best-looking Devastators you can get, and time + newer options have made Giant relatively cheap. Outside of those scenarios, though, I think you might be better off with a different Devastator. Which one? Well, I still need to get my hands on TFC's Hercules, but I eventually plan on doing special series comparing Hasbro, Maketoys, TFC, ToyWorld, and Generation Toys' Devastators so we can settle that question once and for all.
  19. mikeszekely
    Got sick, fell asleep. Woke up and remembered we're still not done with Giant. So here's Bulldozer, Maketoys' version of Bonecrusher (and the first of a few 3P Bonecrushers to be called Bulldozer). I know I've complained a bit about some of Maketoys' Constructicons not really looking like their official counterparts, but but Bulldozer takes the cake. His head looks nothing like Bonecrusher aside from having some combination of black, silver, and red. His torso looks nothing like Bonecrusher, sporting a cab on his generic-looking body instead of a silver chest formed by a shovel blade. His legs are treads, but Maketoys again went with black (and he's sporting Excavator's purple feet). It's sort of like, you know that one episode of the G1 cartoon where Rodimus has a Matrix vision of the Constructicons building Megatron, and there's more Constructicons than the usual six? It's almost as if Bonecrusher retired/died/got fired and the other five replaced him with one of the extras in that scene who happened to turn into a bulldozer. I'm not buying this guy as Bonecrusher any more than I'd buy a red-painted Age of Extinction Galvatron as Optimus Prime just because they're both trucks. I digress. Bulldozer has similar articulation to Excavator. His bicep, wrist, waist, and thigh swivels are all there. His head, shoulders, hips, and feet are all ball joints. As with Excavator, his shoulders can get 90 degrees laterally, his hips just 45. The ball pegs for his shoulders are connected to the torso on hinges for transformation, although you can use them to fudge more lateral range out of his shoulders. His knees still bend 90 degrees, and his elbows are still double-jointed and can curl all the way up. The ball joints in his feet are still the source of his ankle tilt. Unlike Excavator, his weapon actually fits on his arm. A look at his back side shows that he's got the same combiner kibble and heel spurs as Excavator. We also see how Maketoys dealt with the shovel; split it in half, then swing each half around on his hips to flop behind him. I'm not a fan. Bulldozer does look nice in alt mode. The cab and caution stripes are nicely done, and he's less bothered by combiner bits, greebles, and exposed joints than Excavator and Mobile Crane. The shovel blade has some nice molded panels and rivets, and the arms holding it look like pistons. Unfortunately, something I forgot to mention about Excavator, there are no wheels on the treads (nor do the treads themselves move like ToyWorld's). The shovel itself is articulated both were it attaches to the vehicle and at the shovel blade, so you can do some posing with it. And like the others, his weapon can be mounted onto the side of his alt mode. Bulldozer, in terms of quality and articulation, would be one of the better members of this set. But as I said at the beginning of this review, I don't buy him as Bonecrusher at all. He's not redesigned the way Hasbro's Classics Transformers often were at the time; it's so different that it'd be like trying to redesign Batman and coming up with Superman. On his own, I don't recommend him if you're looking for a Classics Bonecrusher... but I might suggest him if you wanted the extra Constructicons from Rodimus' Matrix vision.
  20. mikeszekely
    Well, I had my fun with a little Bii detour, but we've got Constructicons to finish. Tonight, let's have a look at Excavator, Maketoy's Scavanger. Excavator isn't the radical departure that Dump Truck or Wheel Loader were, but he's not as accurate as Mixer Truck was, either. He's got the silver surfboard on his torso, but it's shrunk. He traded his purple pants for black, although he's still got purple feet. He's carrying his shovel on his arm instead of his back; unlike Mobile Crane, there's no way to move it off of his arm, either. His head is almost Scavenger, but like Mobile Crane the wrong colors throw it off. I guess I'd say he's not too bad, but a tad generic. Excavator's head is on a ball joint, and he's got ball jointed shoulders with 90 degrees of lateral movement. Bicep, wrist, waist, and thigh swivels are all intact on this guy, and he sports double-jointed elbows. The rest of his joints are all ball joints: hips that can go all the way forward/backward but only about 45 degrees laterally, knees that can bend 90 degrees, and his purple toes which provide a faux ankle tilt. The gun pictured is supposed to be on, but I couldn't get it to fit onto the slot on his arm. An obvious reason why the shovel is on Excavator's arm instead of his back would be "because that's the way he transforms". But, he'd have to transform like that somehow; there isn't room on his back for a shovel with all the combiner junk on it. Those heel spurs, though... One fun thing you can do with Excavator is transform his arms up a little, then use the handles on the sides of the combined-mode forearms to plug them in to Excavator. Now Dump truck isn't the only guy on the team with huge hands. With a name like Excavator, you might think that he turns into a Zamboni. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong. He turns into an excavator. I know, I'm as disappointed as you are. Excavator's got some nice details, like the silver paint on the pistons in the shovel, and the black treads do look more realistic than purple ones. However, the realism is diminished by a lot of visible joints and robot parts that aren't green. Excavator's shovel has just the one joint in the middle for bending, and it can rotate where it's attached to the body. The rotation is nice (and sorely missed on ToyWorld's Scavenger), but I feel like the shovel could have used at least another joint at the scoop, and possible one more at the base. The gun that I couldn't get on in robot mode has no problem sticking to the side of the vehicle. Excavator is what he is. He's 'meh'. He's not the best in this set, he's not the worst. He's not really a good toy, he's not really a bad toy. He's not the kind of figure that makes you say "I hate this, why'd I buy it?", but nor is he the kind of toy you keep on your desk and have fun fiddling with . I think he's a decent Scavenger to stick in with your Classics figures, but I'm not going to recommend him because I think you can do better.
  21. mikeszekely
    I try not to hit you guys with too many reviews at a time, and I know I still have two more of Maketoys' Constructicons plus the combined Giant to get through... but I came across this guy and I want to talk about him. So here's ToyWorld's Bii, their Bumblebee. Note that this is the TW-03B version, not the first run, so he's got translucent windows and a metallic gold finish instead of yellow plastic and painted windows. Bii is, roughly, Deluxe-sized. He's about as tall as the original Classics Bumblebee, but not nearly as chunky, and smaller than the Generations IDW-style Bumblebee from a few years ago. I'd normally dive right into aesthetics, but I want to get a few more comparisons out of the way. Bii with MP Prowl, so you can see how that scales. Now, the elephant in the room is going to be the official MP Bumble, whom I don't have. I was able to find this picture from one Jaysen Ng, though, of MP Bee with the first run Bii. They're fairly similar in size, they both look like Bumblebee, they both have the car's front for feet and roof for torso, but it's amazing how different they actually look. MP Bee has some things going for him, like the yellow crotch with the v-shape, pudgier torso, and thinner limbs with the coil-ish biceps that make him more animation-accurate (although I don't know where Takara came up with that shade of yellow, or why his head is shaped more like Cliffjumper's). I feel like Bii has more heroic proportions and a better head, though. And while someone's sure to point out that a metallic gold Bumblebee is more of a G2 thing, I actually really dig it on Bii. In some ways, with those proportions and the black crotch, he actually reminds me a lot of Don Figueroa's art from an old Dreamwave source book. It makes me feel like saying that Bii isn't exactly less G1 accurate, but perhaps less Sunbow-accurate, and the look you prefer is largely subjective. I do have a few aesthetic nitpicks with Bii, though. His bumpers really should have been black. Same with the knee joints. Perhaps the biggest offender is his waist. Due to the way he transforms, Bii's only got one window instead of four on his abdomen. Now, that part I don't mind so much, but the roof on his torso doesn't quite come down all the way to his crotch piece. This exposes some parts inside that were molded in the same gray colors as his knee joints, and it kind of stands out. If ToyWorld would have painted those parts gold, I don't think it'd be as noticeable. On the whole, though, I think those are pretty minor complaints. Bii has a few advantages over MP Bumble, though. His back cleans up a bit better, and his forearms don't have that hollow gap. For a little guy, Bii's got plenty of articulation. His head is on a ball joint. He can't tilt his head sideways due to the way it's cut, and he can't really look down because his neck's too short. He's got good upward range, about 45 degrees, which is what you really want for a little guy like Bumblebee. His shoulders are also on ball joints that can rotate and allow him to extend his arms laterally 90 degrees. He's got bicep swivels, tight wrist swivels, and ratcheted elbows that bend 90 degrees. His waist swivels. His ball-jointed hips can move backward and laterally a full 90 degrees, and nearly that forward (the shape of his crotch impedes it slightly). His legs have a tiny amount of swivel movement at the ball-joint, but he's got a full swivel just below the knee to make up for it. Speaking of knees, they're also ratcheted and bend nearly 90 degrees backward. Oddly, they also bend 90 degrees forward. His feet are on ball joints, but instead of a more typical ball peg extending straight down from the bottom of the leg into the top of the foot, the peg extends forward from the base of his shin to a spot just inside the hood. The result is pretty great ankle articulation. He can tilt his foot up 45 degrees, down slightly more so, and a very deep inward ankle tilt. Sure, Bii could be better with double-jointed elbows and knees, hands that open up like MP Bumble (although I hear MP Bumble doesn't have wrist swivels?), or an ab crunch, but it's still easy to get some dynamic poses out of him. Bii's sole accessory is his gun. Maybe not the most G1-accurate gun (I assume, comparing it to pics of the MP's gun), but it's a nice pistol size for a Bumblebee and fits tightly into his hand. Moving right along, here's Bii in alt mode. Again, the bumper really ought to have been black, but there's a lot of nice detail here- the translucent windows and headlights, the silver-painted windshield wipers, what appears to be a rear view mirror behind the windshield, silver paint on the mirror side of the side view mirrors (although Beetles only had mirrors on the driver's side), plus molded lines, vents, a spot for the VW badge, and molded lights on the fenders. Bii with an MP Prowl. From the side here, you can see that Bii's alt-mode proportions are closer to the original G1 toy's Choro-Q proportions. This is probably Bii's biggest strength. (Again, photo credit to Jaysen Ng.) MP Bumble was going for a realistic Beetle alt-mode. Takara nailed that, for the most part, but it comes across to me as too long for Bumblebee. Truthfully, he looks too long compared to actual Beetles I've seen, although I freely admit that I don't know enough about older Beetles to say that there wasn't a particular style in a particular year that has proportions more like MP Bumble. But my point is that the Micro Change car that became Bumblebee was based on a Choro-Q mold, and Bumblebee was drawn with the same exaggerated proportions in the cartoon. So, and this is just my opinion, MP Bumble's realistic alt mode doesn't look like Bumblebee to me, but Bii nails it. A look at Bii's rear. Despite the Choro-Q proportions he's still got enough detail. Here, we see the red-painted tail lights, more molding and vents, and a fun little ToyWorld license plate. That tail pipe is actually the handle of Bii's gun, which is clipped just behind the rear bumper. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I like it when guns can be stored and hidden in car mode. Honestly, there's a lot I really like about Bii. I think he's got great proportions, cleans up well, and I do prefer the cartoony Beetle. I like that he doesn't have the hollow forearm gaps. Some of the stuff MP Bee does, like the way the doors fold around his feet and the tires turn sideways, Bii did first. Bii does have some issues, though, that keep him from being perfect. I've already mentioned a few aesthetic ones, and even suggested how he could be better articulated (even though is articulation is fine). What I haven't mentioned is that transforming Bii is kind of a pain. And it's not even the whole transformation; most of it, like the way the roof rotates, how his sides collapse in, etc, is fine. Great, really. But there are two big annoyances. The first and biggest is that the top rear of the car is on a ball joint. During transformation, it has to spin around to fold over the engine cover on Bii's back, but the clearances are very tight and you're very likely going to pop that part off. The second is similar to the first: the windows above the doors fold down, then the door folds onto Bii's heel. The windows are on a hinge, but it's friction without a pin. Bii's legs have to be transformed with the door open and the window up, otherwise his leg will block you from unfolding the window or the door will block Bii's leg from collapsing. Now, there are little gray nubs on the inside of Bii's feet that help hold Bee's legs in place in car mode. You kind of have to work the leg around the numb, but that means you're pulling the leg a little toward the windows. If you're not careful, you'll pop the windows off, although it's a little easier to avoid than popping the rear off the ball joint. Recommending Bii is tricky. By all accounts, MP Bumble is very good and about the same size. Based on appearances, they both have their pros and cons. Although I've really had no interest in him, I find myself wishing I had a copy of MP Bumble on hand to compare them more directly and tell you which I definitively think is the better Bee. What I can tell you is that I personally like the way Bii looks better, I can tell you that I think Bii is fun but flawed, I can tell you that I'm glad I have him, and I can tell you that I have no motivation to replace him with with MP. But, while I'm happy with him, like I said earlier I think picking between Bee and MP Bumble really comes down to which you personally an subjectively think looks better. So on that note, if you think you might like him better than MP Bumble, then I do recommend Bii. But if you're looking at Bii and thinking that MP Bumble looks better, then get MP Bumble.
  22. mikeszekely
    Alright, we're moving along with these guys. Tonight it's Mobile Crane, Maketoys' take on Hook. So, he's kind of not too far off the mark. The purple chest and hips work out ok, he's green where he needs to be, and the wheels on his upper arms are all certainly evocative of Hook. But his head throws me off every time I look at him. It's honestly got the right sculpt, with the flat head and visor eyes, but the green is so out of place. I find myself thinking more about Animated Blitzwing than Hook. There's also the tiny matter of his right foot being the back of Giant's head. Sure, Giant's head folds up a little, but it's still pretty obvious what you're seeing. For articulation, Mobile Crane has the usual ball-jointed head. His shoulders are on ball joints, and he can get about 90 degrees laterally before his shoulders hit his head. There's a hinge in there for transformation, but it doesn't gain him anything. His elbows are double-jointed, so he can touch his shoulders. His hips are ball jointed and he can kick all the way forward or backward, but only spread about 45 degrees. His knees are single-jointed but can get all the way back. He does have thigh swivels. For what he's got, his joints feel better than the leg bots. But Mobile Crane is suffering in a lot of ways. He has no waist swivel, no bicep swivels, no wrist swivels, and no ankle articulation of any kind because he really doesn't have feet. That's the gun that belongs to him, according to the instructions. In addition to his gun, the crane boom detaches (it's actually required for transforming him). You can mount it onto his arm and he can use it as a sort of weapon. If you prefer a more tradition boom-on-the-back, there is a mounting point for it. It doesn't sit like it does in vehicle mode, so you see it poking out above his shoulders and head. It also doesn't reach the ground when it's fully retracted. Impressively, Mobile Crane didn't have any trouble standing while carrying the boom on his back. Mobile Crane's alt mode is, perhaps, the weakest of the Giant team. It's not really bad, but a lot of the realistic molded detail and smart use of paint we've seen on the other three comes across as sort of greebly lumps. The rear cab for the crane boom looks like it's half the size of the driver's cab. You can also see the back of Mobile Crane's head chilling near the boom's deck. It makes me think that Maketoys' made his head green so he'd blend in better. But when we look at him from a different angle, you've again got Giant's big black head just chilling out there. I suppose you could always pop it off if you want a cleaner look and you're ok with partsforming. Mobile Crane's boom extends to about double the length, and the hook at the end is hinged so you can pose it how you like. His boom should also rotate. I say should because mine didn't. I took it apart, and it looked like there's a ratchet inside, but the ratchets are made of a translucent red plastic. When I put it back together I both stripped the screw and broke the ratchet. It spins freely now... too freely. In alt mode, Mobile Crane's gun pegs into the end of the boom. I guess, if you're going to arm a crane, that would give you the biggest firing arc, but again I prefer the weapons to be hidden, or just set off to the side. All-in-all, I find myself thinking that Mobile Crane's not bad. A few years ago I might have even recommended him as a decent "Classics" Hook. Today, though, I think there's likely to be at least two better options by the end of the year.
  23. mikeszekely
    I actually meant to have Prowl on the list. I'm surprised I forgot him! As for the Lambos, I don't remember Sideswipe doing jack after giving Prime his jetpack (except helping get Skyfire out of the ice), I don't remember Sunstreaker doing jack period, and Red Alert just had that one episode where he hung out with Starscream (that I remember). Not sure I'd consider them part of the main group, but Sideswipe was actually the first Transformer I owned, so I guess I'll just pick up his MP and call it. Good call on the Dinobots, technoblue. I know they probably have the worst Swoop, and I know the combined mode is supposed to be terrible, but I'll probably pick up ToyWorld's Dinobot combiner. Because combiner. Heck, I'll probably get the ToyWorld one, then start tracking down the GCreation ones. I mean, I am working on my second Menasor and third Devastator (not counting the Hasbro ones). EDIT: Almost forgot to mention, TFSource's weekend sale is Function-X Crox for $39.99. He's going in my stack, then Browning II's the only Function-X mold I'll still need to be caught up.
  24. mikeszekely
    I'm glad you're excited, but I never saw Trailbreaker as that "main" of a character, I guess. That begs, the question, though... while pretty much all the toys prior to the '86 movie had at least a small part in one episode, other characters definitely had more screen time. And while my collection has largely been combiner focused, I'm adding a few Autobots now to help address the fact that they were outnumbered in my collection at around 5-1... so who do you guys consider the "main" characters to be? The Autobot "must-haves", if you will. Here's what I'm thinking, but I'd appreciate some input. -Optimus Prime -Bumblebee -Jazz -Wheeljack -Hound -Mirage -Ratchet -Ironhide -Brawn -Cliffjumper
  25. mikeszekely
    I'm waiting for the 30th anniversary Blu-ray.
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