12 Days of Christmas: Day 4

The birds are back!

Hallmark Megatron Christmas Keepsake 2015

Its the middle of July, and never too early to start thinking about the next 20 weekends ahead.

Hallmark's Megatron Keepsake Ornament has been released and is a follow up to last years Optimus Prime. And, like before this tree dangler is a tribute to the original 80's toy representation of the character. Hopefully, this is a regular annual thing!

Hallmark has put together an uncanny scaled down static duplicate of the popular original toy. It has no articulation, and of course – it does not transform! This also skips the past complications of Megatron's questionably controversial alt-mode.

My criticism of the old toy has always been the fragile robot mode. This sadly translates a lot worse as a light plastic Christmas ornament, and is a delicate model as a result. Hallmark have probably foreseen this and have packed this ornament without a plastic tray and a lot more tissuepaper than Optimus Prime had last year.

Unfortunately, no hanging string is included. There is a thin eyelet for 'sold separately' string located on the right shoulder.

In a nutshell, this is no way a toy though based on one. A brilliant looking collectable all the same.

Taste the Rainbow

Thundercracker in Action-Master form, modelling his 'trousers of doom'. Megatron does not seem that impressed...

Finally acquired this elusive toy of the 90's after a decade long hunt. Worth the wait in gold.... and other assorted colors...

Knockoff Transformers "Air-Force"

Bootlegged version of G1 Air-Raid found in Minehead. The KO line also advertises other smaller Aerialbot figures.

Knockoff Transformers "Power Warriors"

'Transformers' 2-packs found in Poundstretcher.

Both the robots resemble bootlegged versions of Legends class Bumblebee .

Fort Max Charity Auction

Behold! The American released Holy Grail of all Transformers toys - The behemoth known as Fortress Maximus. The chance to own one is here courtesy of Toy-Fu.

All proceeds from the auction will go to Mary's Meals/Scottish Relief

As I type this, the auction stands at £375 as the top bid with a target of £550. I predict the end result will go beyond this with more than just the happy face of the new owner, but the many others this auction will benefit.

SATURDAY CAPTION FUN #9

Saturday Strike-plane Silliness. 

The turbulent trio of the Decepticons are set to tear up the skies, but Skywarp doesn't seem himself today. Insert your Caption

Touch Ups #1: Transformers Universe Prowl

I like to think a little extra paint on some figures can go a long way or just repainting some minor details.

I used a Tamiya Silver Paint Marker for my Universe Prowl toy and coloured in his bland black/white weapons to make them more 80's G1-like and outstanding. I found the original scheme clashy to the actual figure paintjob.

Here's Prowl on duty...

Hasbro respond to public concern over Transformer name

Transformers communities all over the web went loud with mixed opinions and outcry in regards to the naming of an upcoming toy.

Hasbro have recentley broke thier silence and made a response through Seibertron.com to address and respond to the many fan mails recieved.

"Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention and for the opportunity to respond. The TRANSFORMERS brand intended no offense by use of the name 'SPASTIC' for one of its products which has not and will not be available via traditional retail channels in Europe, including the UK. Thank you once again for notifying us about your concern. As a marketer of children’s products, input from parents, families and fans regarding their experiences with our brands is extremely important to us. Our goal is to have all families who enjoy our brands feel good about their purchases and experiences."

On a side note. UK Press - The Daily Record have also picked up on the story. HERE

Transformers Name Controversy

As if the revelation about the streaking Lego Santa was'nt enough of an eye-opener, I was brought to the attention yesterday of a very questionably named Transformers product.

That's not a 'photoshop', it's the packaging of an upcoming Stunticons homage figure.

Of course slang words in the US/UK differ from one another. I beleive the said name on the box is also offensive Stateside too. You have to question how much research the department at Hasbro put into thier Transformers names. I beleive they still own the copyrights to 'Menasor', 'Dead End' and 'Drag Strip'.

This is probably the most controversial name on a Transformer since the 80's when a certain fire-breathing triceratops hit the UK toy shelves. There have been other questionable Transformers names since, but never on this level. Let's hope Hasbro sorts it out.

Robot Plane Corps

As if the offerings of Keynsham's local Poundshop was'nt enough bootleg japery for this week, I end up finding these sized up Minicons at Poundland in Broadmead. For £1 you can buy a larger scale Minicon with firing missiles and flying mode action. May I present the Robot Plane Corps!

There are two different bots, but Poundland only had the red and black copter. The other bot - a plane was'nt present. The packaging itself even has what could be original 'Animated' inspired artwork featuring the Plane Corp duo looking happy and cheerful.

For knockoffs, this guy isn't bad. No pop off parts, a working rotor blade and firing missiles. If you have a guilty pleasure for Transformable knockoff tat and... Minicons this is certainly worth a look.

---HERO

(Click to Enlarge Image)

Heinlad

I figured for the sake of it I'd take a few shots of one my favourite Transformers toys of all time. Heinlad is one of the most unusual toys from my personal collection and is culturally unique to the Japanese market he was released unto.

Another Man's Junk(ers)!

Broken toys can have a new lease of life by donation of parts towards the restoration of other figures.

A broken figure can also contribute towards a custom project and creativity.

If you have broken toys. Don't throw them away. For these 'junkers' could prove useful to another.

REVIEW: Breakaway, (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)

Joining the Autobots from the skies is Top-Gun flyboy Breakaway. Breakaway is part of the first wave of movie sequel toys and appears as a playable character in Activision’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video game. The character name was also used for a chocolate biscuit brand in the 80’s, which I often had in my packed lunch for school.

Back on topic…

Breakaway moonlights as a desert camo-coloured military jet with cybergliphics marked on the wings and tail. The jet looks sleek, and compact; and it holds together well. The jet can also be folded out into a Veritech style gerwalk mode, but it is not an official conversion.

Breakaway is easily comparable with different generations of jet-based transformers toys in the way this figure is designed and how it transforms. The robot form however is a slightly different take on a ‘jetformer’, although different concepts from past moulds are given a nod to, almost like a bricolage as it were.


In robot mode Breakaway most notably has his robot head exposed from within the cockpit of the jet. The window hatch can be lifted up to reveal the robot face or can remain down like a protective screen. The robot face itself is almost like a mixture of flying goggles and an oxygen mask both adding to the jetfighter theme of this figure. As an extra feature, Breakaway has a narrow Gatling gun over his forearm, much like a G1 seeker weapon. The Gatling gun can rotate via the Mech Alive gimmick but isn’t anything special. On the walking side of things Breakaway’s feet boast a set of 4 toes on each. Rather than the ‘norm’ of having square or triangular feet, Breakaway shows that Transformers can have toes too, especially since they have had fingers in most designs.

Like with other past jetformers, the craft wings also double up for use in robot mode. For Breakaway, his wings and tail make up a small hang-glider like formation on his back.

A slight downside on this toy for me is the colour scheme. The primary desert storm shade is fine but the chav blue and wasabi green in places don’t blend in at all. In fact, they insultingly clash towards a well designed toy mould. This toy did not adopt a G2 Aerialbot scheme, but this is still unforgiveable.

On the brighter side, there is said to be a darker variant of the toy available as well as upcoming Thrust and Dirge repaints. If like me you don’t like the Breakaway mould with wasabi on the side, there are other fruity flavours on the horizon.

Overall, Breakaway is a decent figure with a different innovative approach to a robot mode. Got to love those toes! The choices of secondary and tertiary colours are indeed bad, but they don’t entirely ruin what is a fun and novel figure.

REVIEW: Rampage, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

One of the outstanding disguise themes the Revenge of the Fallen movie and toyline both offer is that of the Constructicons. Or rather construction vehicle themed Transformers under the Bayformer design. These so-called Constructicon toys are packaged as normal Decepticons without the additional fanfare to say they are a special unit.

Alongside Demolishor, the other construction vehicle to crop up in the first wave of movie sequel toys is Rampage.

Rampage in toy form is a warm-yellow bulldozer and somewhat flung from his coloured red movie appearance. Resemblance good or not, Rampage is actually very cool. Much like his unicycle-like comrade Demolishor this Transformer has a different take on a robot mode.

Escaping from the traditional norms of a humanoid robot form for a Transformer, Rampage has four legs. With this approach and proportion, Rampage could possibly be some kind of centaur or maybe an Andelite (ref: Animorphs). What also stands out on Rampage are his bulldozer treads which drape down each arm like extra-long coat sleeves. These ‘coat sleeves’ both mark for a pair of deadly whip like combat weapons. The toy based on Rampage’s Beast Wars namesake also has a rubber treads from claws feature, but was never used like this. It would seem that with the Revenge of the Fallen toyline most weapons are already attached to the Transformer robot (i.e Sideswipe, Breakaway etc) and Rampage with his ambidextrous tread whips is no exception.

The bulldozer mode is tough and sturdy the way it should be. This vehicle form is also detailed and moulded well to attention. There’s nothing more to comment on apart from this mode doing its job looking like a bulldozer and a well made one at that. The bulldozer parts all play their part in making up the deadly robot mode when folded out into robot form.

Rampage with his four legs can be difficult to stand. This is because the legs are thin and hoof like. Sometimes either of the two front legs don’t stay stood up properly making this figure feel slightly table like. This is one of the traits of this toy that requires a bit of patience.

So what, this version of Rampage isn’t a gestalt limb? This building site badboy also has a third mode in his arsenal. This additional mode is a jackhammer drill and possibly scale wise useable with bigger figures to handle, since it won’t stand alone. Unlike the bulldozer form, the jackhammer looks less like an Earth-based power tool and more like a Vehicon hover mode. Having both alien and Earth based alt modes, is something that hasn’t been done before with the Triple Changers concept as far as I am aware.

In conclusion, Rampage may not be movie accurate in appearance but is a decent enough construction vehicle Transformer with a little extra wow factor and originality. Rampage’s different quirks make him quite novel and outstanding compared to most deluxe sized figures. All round this is a fun toy to own if you can tolerate its occasional baby deer like standing problems. One figure not to be missed.

REVIEW: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Dead End

This Decepticon looks Fast as a car and Furious as a robot. Altogether - an all-round nasty Stunticon namesake for the Autobots to contend with.

Dead End here is part of a new scout class of movie style Transformers featuring what looks to be characters that may not appear in the motion picture. Going by past Movie toys, Dead End could be suggestively connected with the film like other non-cast member toys before him.

Transformation from car to robot and vice versa requires careful handling and patience as there are small parts that can break off easily (such as the front bonnet). Like a lot of smaller Transformer toys before, this figure has a lever like hinge on its back which pulls the roof or equivalent over the head in alt mode. This feature is like the G2 Cyberjets and small wave 1 Beast Wars, but Dead End is no way a ‘Shellformer’ like these are since other parts on him are less static and need further transforming.

The street racing car alt mode is a solid red & black, curvaceous sports car - much like the old early-90s Aquaspeeder toy Deluge. The car pushes along nicely as it should, and the doors each have a decorative orange tribal flame to make Dead End look more like a bad-boy racer. The hub caps also have tribal like markings too. Road rage could indeed take to the living room carpet in style.

What is most striking about the robot mode is the amount of movement in the joints. Even the robot head which looks ‘Thanagarian’ has a moveable beak like mouth and a bottom set of sharp teeth. The legs on Dead End have 6 articulation points, whilst the arms are ball jointed on the shoulders, elbows and wrists. The robot hands are each sculpted as an open set of clawing fingers (although a little fragile) rather than a set of block fists. There is a peg-hole in each palm maybe for an optional weapon, even though Dead End is unarmed.

This is a fantastic figure with attention to detail and lots of articulation for a Transformer its size. However, Dead End is let down by being a little fragile in places and needs delicacy when transforming. This toy is more for displaying rather than playing, especially where the robot mode is concerned. A Scout-sized spectacle!

- Hero Ken Flatt

LITTLE RED SPORTS CAR

This neat little item arrived Thursday morning.



A further report coming soon.

Cerebros Bootleg 1997

Another Knockoff showcase for today. This is a bootlegged Cerebros my missus picked up at Botcon 1997. Not sure if the rest of the Fort Max set was made into a knockoff though. All that's here is just the Cerebros head.