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Earthrise Scorponok. If you're short on space, in BFS alt-mode the tail assembly will wedge upright behind him at 90 degrees.

The claws add to the general sprawl. I think I need to find a cake cooling rack or something so that I can rise him a bit and still print without moving him every time. Not that I have much need to print things.

edit: That's better. Parts from a throwaway Argos side table.

Fans Hobby Master Builder MB-12 Athena. Very much older voyager or MP scale and thus not going next to the other Headmaster Juniors I was going to display her with. Very white plastic -- keep away from sunlight and that may not be enough. Very fucking fragile ankle joints, either it was a freak casting flaw in the pin or (my view) that's a design issue -- took a while to drill and re-pin with a matched gauge nail. Seriously, the pin tapers where it fits into the heel, it's insane.

The stickers are a nice touch, as is the retro packaging. The rest of the design is also far too dependent on pins and parts moving around on little ball joints.

Picture does it no justice at all, but does give an idea of scale.

I was thinking about getting one of those Athena figures. I've always wanted a good representation of Minerva. Other than the ankle joints, is it worth it?

It's far better than the design Fansproject teased and never released. For the most part it feels like a quality product with a lot of attention to detail -- very much in the collectible bracket rather than toy and they've gone out of their way to make the unboxing and stickering a vintage product type experience. They even supply spares of some of the stickers, presumably on the assumption that with repeated handling they'll wear (or that people aren't very good at manually lining up stickers). It'll scratch a JTF itch. And if an ankle goes, the red plastic is soft enough that you can do that repair with a micro screwdriver, craft knife and wire cutter on a pair of pliers -- the pin you may need to fashion a replacement for is that thin.

For the price of a couple of voyager figures it doesn't feel too extortionate.

As far as the character goes, I figure it's better to live in the 90s bubble where JTF was a mythic highbrow continuation of the series and not actually watch the pile of toss it seems to be by most reports.

edit: Photos of the fix -- https://imgur.com/a/sSMWrUs

Cool. I'll probably order one, then. I wonder if they're going to do a Nightbeat version as well.

Denyer wrote: ↑Sat Jul 18, 2020 12:40 amAs far as the character goes, I figure it's better to live in the 90s bubble where JTF was a mythic highbrow continuation of the series and not actually watch the pile of toss it seems to be by most reports.

...I quite liked the Japanese shows. Masterforce was decent. I think because they're Japanese, everyone's expecting Akira from them, rather than Ox Tales. Probably a result of the early '90s interest in Anime, and the imports Manga video brought over which meant everyone thought such fare would be 'adult' in someway. Rather than being a kids show whoring toys.

Masterpiece MPM-7 Bumblebee
The Studio Series toy was absolute ass, so he went. I really wanted a decent example of Bumblebee Movie Bumblebee. The 3A figure is out of my price range but the MP wasn't. Especially second hand off ebay. I like him! He looks really cool and the accessories (mask, gun arm and blade) are neat. The transformation is ...something I gave up with, to be honest. At least for the minute. There's a lot of swivelling and clipping parts into place and some of them have to be lined up just so, and I could only get everything successfully pegged together down one side, so need to spend a bit more time figuring him out.

Studio Series Starscream & Brawl
Like Blackout, these were figures I moved on, then decided I wanted again. So I bought them again. Great couple of figures and neat transformations. Look really cool with Blackout.

Skyquake - Where did you get Overload? The comic shop I got Scavenger at said they won't get him until November, and the only other place I've seen SS Leaders is a Target in NH. My work said anyone who travels more than 60 miles away is required to self quarantine for 14 days, so I won't be going there anytime soon. Amazon US didn't have him, and doesn't know when he'll be in.

G1 Reissue Astrotrain - Walmart had these clearanced to $25, which is much more reasonable than the original $40. I finally have an Astrotrain with a decent train mode.

Denyer wrote: ↑Thu Jul 16, 2020 9:14 pm [img https://i.imgur.com/BbUhmH6.jpg /img]

Which Devastators are those? By that, I mean that I know that it's the combiner wars version on the left and Hulkie on the right, but are they originals or size-changed KOs?

I still want some version of the Hulkie sculpt, but there're so many different bootlegs.

Earthrise Doubledealer
Snagged one this morning out of a mix of surprise at seeing one and having a certain affinity for the triplechanging weirdo.
He is very much just a modern take on the original, minus the powermaster gimmick.
Robot mode has got the usual amount of posability one has come to expect these days, ankle tilts and all. Almost a surprising amount of flexibility in the arms. Bird mode is pretty much a winged brick still, nature of the beast though.

Slightly disappointed by the lack of Knok and Skar, might have to pick up that Generations Selects set with them at some point

Clay wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 12:19 amWhich Devastators are those? By that, I mean that I know that it's the combiner wars version on the left and Hulkie on the right, but are they originals or size-changed KOs?

I still want some version of the Hulkie sculpt, but there're so many different bootlegs.

If memory serves, it's the Wei Jiang Hulkie KO and WJ do good KOs in general, would recommend. Think it's been slightly oversized.

The CW one is the Kubian Cool Become Brave downsized KO, which is acceptable quality (a bit taller than CW Bruticus, which works for relative scale) but the tabs are extremely fragile. It holds together and as long as you don't pay much for it, it's a decent display piece. Certainly in the absence of an official Devastator at that scale.

Earthrise Rung, Slitherfang - Found them at Toyworld at a mark up.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v357 ... 201904.jpg

My latest acquisition would be Siege Jetfire and I've grown quite fond of him. In the photo, he's underneath the giant, 3rd party "Omega Supreme".

Civ wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2020 1:02 am My latest acquisition would be Siege Jetfire and I grown quite fond of him. In the photo, he's underneath the giant, 3rd party "Omega Suprme".

What is the little chonky Omega next to him?

Denyer wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 12:51 am If memory serves, it's the Wei Jiang Hulkie KO and WJ do good KOs in general, would recommend. Think it's been slightly oversized.

I thought the CW looked smaller than normal. Quick check of ebay says the Wei Jiang version (or derivatives thereof) are quite plentiful at the moment. Will pick one out, thanks!

Skyquake87 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 14, 2020 8:01 pm I put together Studio Series Devastator!

[envious Clay noises]

Clay wrote: ↑Tue Jul 21, 2020 2:41 amWhat is the little chonky Omega next to him?

That is a Master Made SDT-03 Mega Series Apollo. It also comes with a SDT-02 tiny figurine of "Optimus Prime". At least, if I'm reading the box correctly, that's what it says.

Here's a link for better photographs.

https://tfsource.com/master-made/sdt-03-apollo/

EDIT: I should note that this chonky, little guy is one of my favorite figures.

Tantrum wrote: ↑Sat Jul 18, 2020 9:18 pm Skyquake - Where did you get Overload?

I got him from InDemand toys: https://www.indemandtoys.co.uk/product/ ... -overload/

Devastator!

Got twitchy and ordered an Overload from ebay. No real markup on the price, but had to pay a penny or two for international shipping. Besides, I've been wanting to finish the figure just because I've been annoyed with the people that got it early not understanding how to combine it, which is part of a larger problem of "early access =/= know what they're doing."

He's wobbly, but that's to be expected for a combiner this size. Full weight of the eight figures is 3.75lb / 1.7 kilos

First, since the wiki page for Overload is already pulling that Lockdown/Lugnut crap about Overload's robot mode only being as tall as a voyager and therefore is small, here's an ensemble shot showing that Overload's twice the size of the voyager components.

Next, here's the offical arm configuration for Scrapmetal/Hightower, which leaves the left arm longer than the right.



However, you can arrange them differently so that the arms are the same length at the palm pretty easily. Fingers are still longer, but that's fine.



Official configuration really only allows for an upright, biped posture on account of the neck and the ankles. Those are simple enough to work around for the quadruped posture. To give the ankles clearance, the thighs need to rotated 180 degrees. It's actually easier to disconnect Rampage and Longhaul than try to rotate the feet while attached. Also notice that Rampage's stand goes between the treads to help hold the foot together, just like the vehicle mode.



Re-configuring Mixmaster so the neck and head has an upward pivot is pretty straightforward. The truck grille won't fit where it's supposed to, but is actually better sitting over Scavenger's head. It hides it and is more flush with the rest of the back.



Boom, gorilla pose.


And, since I wanted hoses and a more defined hump, I worked out a way to toss in 2009 Rampage and Studio Bonecrusher too. He has a tail now.





I did that because I've done that with the little one since always:


Overall, I'd say my impression is thrilled, maniacal laughter. Every component has triple duty (vehicle, robot, combiner), but the necessary compromises are spread quite evenly and the negative effects are slight (Mixmaster's hands in truck mode, etc.). And it's doubly amazing because the ROTF Constructicons are such a weird, motley bunch, and Devastator himself is such a different body type from basically every other gestalt they've made. It's just... so outside of the norm in every component configuration, and yet they pulled it off. I am duly impressed.

EDIT:

I figured out that if you disconnect the two wheels that make up the back, the arms can swing forward and make a much better gorilla stance. It's not very stable, though.

https://imgur.com/a/aWBWiGu

Studio Series Shatter.

Vintage G1 Bumblebee and Outback - Actually found these and a couple of the other Minibots at K-Mart after there initial release two years ago.

Found Earthrise Snapdraon at Walmart while picking up jelly; haven't opened him, yet. I was just at this Walmart Saturday killing time while my tire was being fixed, and the TF display was pretty different. Lots of SS Deluxes have moved, and more Netflix Deluxes have come in.

Edit: I opened Snapdragon, and he's pretty good. Each mode has some compromises, but nothing more than you'd see in a two mode figure. Bode mode is well proportioned and the backpack is just 1 solid part of the roof of the ship, not a whole alt mode crammed and folded up. The only issue is the wings on the inner forearms make posing a bit tricky. You can't put the arms flat against the side, but angle them out too much, and the pointy shoulder kibble will hit the backpack. The backpack part is just a tab, so there's only a few degrees of shoulder angle where it's an issue.

Jet mode is nice. The bot arms being integrated into the wing engines makes for an aerodynamic jet mode. And, he has (non-rolling) front landing gear. The 5-mm holes where the weapons mount in dragon mode make the jet sit level in lieu of rear landing gear. Downsides are gaps between the rear of the jet and the thrusters, and the cockpit is very hard to open. I'll be inserting/removing Krunk by separating the bot legs rather than risk breaking the windshield.

Dragon mode looks pretty good. The top of the dragon head is part of the main figure. There are holes for eyes, and nubs on Krunk's shoulders that fill them, giving him red eyes. Krunk's legs form the dragon jaw, though mine has a bit of an underbite. I have to turn Krunk's head 180 deg from how the instructions have him to make it fit the socket. Maybe the socket is in backwards? It's not noticable if you have Snapdragon chomping on something, and why wouldn't you have Snapdragon chomping on something? The real downside is the dragon arms; the hollow forearms are quite noticable, and the elbow joint is more for transformation than useful articulation.

One oddity is the bot chest being sculpted to look like he has the tech spec drum from the G1 figure. There's even a pin where the hinge would be. At first, it looks like this opens, but on closer look, it seems to be a single piece.

Also, Krunk's face does have a mouth sculpted on it, while Snapdragon's has a faceplate. But, the paint makes the mouth hard to see, and is the same purple as Snapdragon's faceplate, so Krunk's head just looks like a smaller version of Snapdragon's.

I ran into the wave 2 Earthrise Battlemasters while grocery shopping.

I never saw Rung when he was released in Siege, but he's pretty cool. He doesn't do anything that the other Siege guns didn't do, but the fact that he's actually got a unique design with a bit of personality makes him an infinitely cooler standalone figure than, say, Blowpipe. And even though MTMTE went totally off the rails about half-way through, he was a really likeable character during the good part of the run so it's neat to have a figure of him. Angry eyebrows and all.

The concept behind the new Earthrise Battlemasters does nothing for me, in general. What could be less interesting than tiny, generic, poorly-articulated robots turning into bits of floor? But make one of them a translucent purple snake robot, and suddenly the "rampformer" idea has a bit more curb appeal. Honestly, I think this price point has always worked a lot better for cute robot animals than humanoid or vehicular figures. Back in TR my favourite stand-alone Titan Masters were the animal ones, and the most memorable Siege ones were the beasties too.

Slitherfang makes for a decent shield or a hilarious whip when paired with a bigger toy, so there's some alternate uses even if you really don't care for the official alt-mode. He's not super-articulated by any means, but for a snake-bot of his size he's got all the joints you need.

I'm behind others on piecing together the Studio Series Devy, but yesterday I got SS 42 Long Haul and SS 41 Scrapmetal in the mail.

Due to the heavily overpriced aftermarket costs, I went the route of KO's for these. I would prefer to have the real ones, and honestly I was worried that the quality was going to be sub par. I got the AOYI versions, and if I didn't already know they were KO, I would think they were Hasbro. The plastic quality is great, the joints are great, and the paint apps are just as good as the real figs. I'm pleasantly surprised with them.

Long Haul is a fantastically chunky guy, though his articulation is slightly impacted by all the chunk. Still super fun though. I still need to get him into leg mode, and I hope he holds up well with all the combiner weight. Scrapmetal is really fun too. Simple transformation, great excavator mode, and good articulation in robot mode. I like his little scoop hands!

Now all I need is Overload & Skipjack, both of which are on order (not the KO versions this time).