Toy Review Archives

[kupimus aka(clocker)]

I havent actually seen it in the flesh yet. what would u say is wrong with it(just in case i happen to think about buying it)

[Cliffjumper]

It looks diabolical. There's really not an awful lot else to say.

[kupimus aka(clocker)]

oh

but if you have handled it, was there any glaring flaws other than aesthetics?

what I mean is:
does he stand properly? does he transform well(by whatever bar u judge these things)? or are there any severe weak points?

[Cliffjumper]

No, I haven't handled it. Because it looks diabolical I didn't buy it.

[Savannahtron]

It's so true what you said Cliffy

I always wanted OP, got UM, and OP was one of the first ones I wanted as a collector, but back when eBay was first out, any sort of OP was overpriced. Remember when the seekers were going for several hundred back in the day?

I think a lot of that came under control when Hasbro started doing the reissues, making instant collectibles. Over the years, some of my favorites have been the G1 reissue (still don't own an original since I sold all of the old junky ones off), the MP, the chibi MP classics one, RID convoy, and believe it or not, the ROTF ones are rather impressive imho. I have both voyager ones, and the Defender reminds me more of the G1 in robot mode than the original. The Leader class is rather bulky and heavy, and combined with Jetfire, is monstrous proportions, gangly in a sense that I don't like him on display.

As far as Megs, I owned a complete junky one at one point and thought, wow...that is the toy I wanted so much as a kid? The alt mode is rather on spot, but the robot mode is weak. Never owned the G2, but I do own the Bludgeon repaint of the hero edition, and it is ok, but not overly impressive. The legends version is ok as well. I own the MP, had it out of the box one time and never transformed it. Never had it on display, so I can't say that I suffered what other people have with his weak joints.

My son owns the Nerf Gun Megs, and I definitely thought that was rather weak.

Oddly enough< I own 3 G1 Galvatrons. One complete and in decent shape, one near complete and in decent shape and one junker. Oddly enough, was another toy that I really wanted to have, and what a G1 brick he is The Universe version is pretty decent, if small. I'd like to see a voyager class Galvatron as more of a space tank rather than a military tank. Well, we see how popular the Rotf Alien stuff is, so I am not sure if they would ever do a release like that.

[Cliffjumper]

I remember getting Magnus for my birthday, must've been about '87. I don't think my parents were all that impressed that I ignored 75% of the toy and refused to call it Ultra Magnus...

Fluked onto an original - got the TRU one in the stores, then sold it, then lucked onto a slightly worn original for £15; it's missing a couple of minor bits (the fuel hose or something) but does the job, and fits the nostalgia factor a bit better than the reissue for me.

And yeh, I remember the pre-reissue prices - unbroken Prowls going for a hundred pounds loose, even a junker would set you back a bit... The reissues are the best thing to happen for us all for a long time - how many of us would own many of those guys otherwise... Plus the reissue programme knocked the prices down for everything, no-one quite knew what was going to come out next and prices dropped for most things.

[kupimus aka(clocker)]

how many of you out there have a version of this mould right now in your home?

i have one...this one.

[The Reverend]

Name: Kickback
Allegiance: Decepticon
Sub-Group: Insecticon
Function: Espionage

"Friend is another word for fool."

Charming, but cruelly clever... makes friends so he can influence them to do his bidding by digging up facts he can hold against them. Humans particularly susceptible to this Insecticon. In insect mode can jump 40 ft. for a distance of .1 miles... kick a hole in 1/4 inch steel. In robot mode, can fly 30mph up to 100 miles. Sub-machine gun fires 300 rounds per minute. Very vulnerable as insect and flying in high winds.

Kickback is probably, in retrospect, the least celebrated of the three non-Deluxe Insecticons, since he didn't really have the same type of spotlighted moments in the cartoon and comic that Bombshell and Shrapnel did. However, as far as insects go, Kickback's grasshopper mode is probably the most familiar of his team (we've all seen grasshoppers - we don't really see lamellicorns that frequently).

Alternate Mode:

Although he doesn't have the projecting stern that typical grasshoppers do, Kickback's still recognizable in this form due to his long wings, passable head sculpt (and its bright yellow antennae), simulated "hair" on his back legs, and the claw-like forelimbs. He has wheels on his foremost and rear feet, and he's mainly black with some purple on the ends of his each leg. A yellow hinged compartment on his back allows for the insertion of a Diaclone driver or whatever other small object you please. His head can rotate, the antennae can be posed to some degree, and he has two joints to each leg, although the front two pairs share the same shoulder joint - far superior, in terms of articulation, than his teammates. Although he's lacking in some key insect details, he still looks rather nice, and the back legs in particular have some rather well thought-out stickering. The lengthy chrome wings look good as well, although they're subject to wear on loose samples. I understand that a rubsign is usually found on one of these wings, although mine didn't have one when I bought it back in the 80s - I think those were still Mini-Spy territory. Although the robot face is visible at the underside of the insect head, a slight projection just above it hides it from many angles and gives the bug a somewhat beaked look, so you can have him chomp on things, I guess.

One interesting aspect of Kickback's insect mode is that because of the way his hind legs transform, posing those limbs in "pre-kick" position gives you two small "levers" (actually the robot mode's feet) at the top of each leg you can press down to simulate his ability to go around kicking holes in steel. It isn't mentioned in the instructions or anything, but you can use it to kick over poor Gears if you like, or that horde of Armada Mini-Cons you're now questioning the reason for buying.

Robot Mode:

Kickback has a relatively simple, if interesting transformation - especially the way his front legs pair together to make clawed arms. His wings are intended to stand straight up from his shoulders, but tend to droop on loose samples. Or if you like them angled back away from his shoulders, you can do that too. The yellow compartment now takes up most of his chest, he sports a black visor over his eyes, and the notable insect antennae are now forming earpieces of sorts on his head. He has movement available at the shoulders and hips, his head can rotate, and you can get some degree of elbow movement out of him if you're not too fussy about how the claws look. Unlike many G1s, his legs are independent of each other, so he can do a stiff-legged front kick of sorts, or at least trip Shrapnel from time to time. Technically, he has ankle movement too, but this is only due to the transformation and is pretty much useless in robot mode. He carries a chrome "submachine gun" that clips onto a claw and is reminiscient enough of the tommy-gun style. Oddly, he has stickers marking the soles of his feet. Don't ask. I'm not sure whether they're supposed to be tread or some kind of vent.

Regardless, he's probably got the best looking robot mode of the three "regular" Insecticons, in terms of proportions. Shorter than a Seeker, but taller than an Autobot minicar, his black-and-purple color scheme suits him well and he fits nicely in a displayed crowd of Decepticons.

Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation: 3. No challenge to it, although the arms/insect forelimbs could be briefly confusing.
Durability: 5. The antennae can break off, the insect's limbs are thin-ish, and there's the large, projecting wings to be careful of.
Fun: 7. I'll go high on this score because some people really, really like insects.
Price: 3. Aside from the durability issue, he's not hard to find.
Summary: 5. Let's "go halfies" here and say if you're a fan of the Insecticons in general, you really should pick him up. If you didn't care much for the characters to begin with, Kickback's a good ambassador for them, but I wouldn't guarantee you'd like it.

[Savannahtron]

I have two, one is sitting on my table next to me, another is unopened in storage box.

@Cliffy, yeah man, hard to believe I have been collecting for 11 years now (since 1999) as an adult. I think I was into the toys from age 9 until about age 14. I find it ironic that the Classics/Henkei stuff is going for about the same a G1 figs (speaking of loose complete figs, not misb or mib stuff).

I feel bad for all of the folks buying these near perfect KO's on eBay thinking they are getting genuine toys.

[Savannahtron]

Had the 3 Insecticons as a kid, just bought the reissue. When I was a kid, I remember that they were kind of boring, more like filler bots. We used to pretend that they were the infiltrators (like the movie) and would break into Autobot city.

I had a set as an adult and sold them. Now having the reissues, I will probably just leave them in the box. Decent review, I would encourage anyone wanting to check them out, get the reissue, 3 for $30 is a decent price for G1 stuff. I'm glad they did not try to reissue these as individuals.

[Savannahtron]

Nice review. I have not had any luck finding one. I pre-ordered it on BBTS, but not sure if I am too keen on the metallic paint job. I would have liked to have seen the Rodimus toy come out. Maybe with the upcoming line, or Universe?

[The Reverend]

Yeah, I had Kickback and Bombshell back then, and at the time I found them slightly awkward - they just didn't fill much of a useful role. Maybe some kids found bugs a lot more exciting than I did. Although I had Dinobots stomping all over Bombshell frequently.

[Shrapnel Clone]

I just like the colours! Weeee!

[inflatable dalek]

Blurr uses his AHM-era Cybertronian alternate mode, despite having an Earth-based alternate mode in Transformers #3. Andy Schmidt confessed that he missed this during his editing.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHA.




Nothing to add.

[Transformer Kamen]

Name: Brawn
Function: Brawn
Subgroup: Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Vehicles

There's nothing Brawn loves more than a challenge. Luckily, working with the N.E.S.T. Global Alliance gives him plenty of opportunities to show his strength. He has a new assignment: track down the Decepticon strong-bot Rampage. The Decepticon warrior's strength is legendary, but Brawn intends to crush both him and his legend with a couple of blows of his indestructible fists.

Strength: 10 Intelligence: 6 Speed: 6 Endurance: 10 Rank: 3 Courage: 8 Fireblast: 6 Skill: 5

For some reason, over the top strong guys have always appealed to me. Thus, I really like Brawn. I actually don't remember Brawn doing anything particularly impressive, mind (other than dying like a punk in the '87 animated film), but his implied strength was enough to make me like him anyway.

Since his ignoble death, Brawn has been pretty much absent from Transformers fiction. He had a bit of a revival in X-Brawn from RiD, but has never had a figure based on his original appearance since his original toy. Obviously, I was pleased as punch to learn a new figure of my favorite Autobot bruiser was planned in the N.E.S.T. subline of Revenge of the Fallen.

Alternate Mode:

Upgraded somewhat from his original appearance, Brawn now transforms into a heavy-duty SUV. Being a Deluxe, one could take issue with his size; in fact, he's a bit small for his price point, and is ridiculously out of scale with Voyager figures, particularly Ironhide, who has a similar vehicle mode. Of course, scaled figures is pipe-dream anyway, but I know it bothers some people.

There are very few paint apps on the figure. Instead, Brawn's pieces are cast in their respective colours. This keeps him looking quite clean overall, but has the unfortunate side-effect of bringing more scrutiny of the bits that are painted. Fortunately, slop around the edges of his lights has been kept to a minimum, though that may vary figure to figure. A few more paint apps would actually be preferable. The bronze made for a solid choice; however, the bars along the windows and in the bed, not to mention the rear bumper, are all the same color. A black or silver coat would have gone far to break up the dull palette.

Brawn's single action feature in this mode is the rotary gun on top of the cab. Although, I'm not sure it's the most practical location for that type of gun, Brawn is one of the few Autobots to have offensive capabilities in vehicle mode. The cannot rotate but can elevate to a bit above forty-five degrees.

Overall, a solid, if not spectacular vehicle mode.

Robot Mode:

Anyone familiar with the Brawn's original appearance (or his brief cameo in Animated) should immediately recognize this figure as Brawn, albeit rendered in the Movie aesthetic. The sculpt has quite a few good points. I particularly like the streamlined head, which is, of course, the main factor (other than colouration) that defines the character as Brawn. I'm less a fan of the figure's thin waist. Normally, I like the Movie's pension for odd proportions; here, though, the bulk of the legs, arms, and upper chest look silly being divided by a waist-line that is the envy of the corset wearing crowd.

Brawn's paint applications in this mode are perfect, not a bit of slop, even on the fairly complicated chest area. After the dullness of his vehicle mode, the green and gold are a welcome reprieve. And you'll have amble opportunity to show off that paint, because Brawn has a large amount of useful articulation. With a name like Brawn, one can't help but imagine him engaged in a spot of fisticuffs, and Brawn does not disappoint in that regard. However, this version of the character apparently picked up a few IQ points, and comes armed with not one, but two machine pistols to offset his pugilist aspirations.

Now for the bad news. Kibble. Fairly light on his legs, and worse on his arms, Brawn fails in this category just by turning him to the side. Not only does he have half of his vehicle mode hanging off his back, it's attached to him via ugly struts, and there are only ugly ways to handle it so that he won't interfere with his arm articulation only serves to highlight its presence. Finally, as cool as guns akimbo are, the pieces themselves are utterly generic lumps of green and transparent plastic, devoid of any sculpted detail past a vaguely 'gun' shape.

Brawn has nice features, and a terrific sculpt at his core. Excessive amounts of kibble, on the other hand, really hurt his score.

Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation: Brawn's conversion straddles the edge of being annoyingly complex. He has a lot of panels that twist and turn, yet everything slides into place nicely. 5/10
Durability: Besides his pistols, which are losable, Brawn has more than a few tabs and panels that will not reattach if broken. 7/10
Fun: Guns Akimbo are always fun, and he has good posablity to work with. 7/10
Value/Price: For the standard deluxe price, Brawn is an average figure. Fans of the character obviously rate him higher here than non-fans and haters of kibble-tastic designs.
Overall: As a toy, Brawn probably edges just above average thanks to a decent transformation, good articulation, and a solid sculpt. He loses a lot of points, unfortunately, due to poor use of kibble. Ultimately, if you're not a fan of Brawn in particular, he should not be a major priority. 5/10

[Transformer Kamen]

Name: Lockdown
Function: Badass Bounty Hunter
Subgroup: RoTF Deluxe Vehicles

“Run all you want. It will make the chase more fun.”

Lockdown was hired to hunt down and destroy Autobot Ratchet, and that's what he aims to do. Once he's accepted a contract, nothing short of total deactivation can stop him. His services don't come cheap, but he's the best there is at what he does. Lockdown has never lost a target, and doesn't intend for this to be the first time.

Strength: 8 Intelligence: 7 Speed: 7 Endurance: 8 Rank: 2 Courage: 8 Fireblast: 6 Skill: 9

In fiction, it's hard to beat the raw badassary of a bounty hunter, and Lockdown is no exception. First appearing in the Transformers: Animated episode “The Thrill of the Hunt”, he appeared to be a long time enemy of Ratchet. Later his focus switch to Prowl, though these additional episodes were less interesting, and sadly tarnished Lockdown's reputation. Even so, Lockdown's status as an ensemble darkhorse had been established. So much so, that he has been granted a toy in the N.E.S.T. subline of the ROTF Movie line.

Alternate Mode:

As an expy of himself, Lockdown's vehicle mode, unlike every other vehicle in the line, doesn't have a real life analog and is instead a more realistic looking version of his Animated alt, and he looks good. The toon-like proportions of the Animated version now fold sleekly into a dangerous looking vehicle. Seriously, there are spikes everywhere. The colour scheme is an upgrade from the Animated version as well. Instead of matte black with a little bit of green, Movie Lockdown sports various shades of green and more of it, which nicely breaks up the subdued copper of the rest of the mold. The new figure definitely comes out better here.

Robot Mode:

Although, I really like the alt mode, I don't think the robot mode made the transition quite as well. The base sculpt is good, and I really like how the individual parts are sculpted very differently. Lockdown's original plan was to be a monster like Frankenstein's, made up of an amalgam of parts. This idea didn't make it so much into the Animated version, so it's nice to see it here. On the other hand, he is very thin, spindly even, compared to his Animated incarnation, with lots of kibble, something the Animated line had remarkably little of. I'm also not a fan of the rubbery plastic used for his hands and hook.

Articulation, however, gives Movie Lockdown more of an advantage. He loses the waist joint of the original, but gets a hell of a lot more in the bargain. Including a neck that has two ball joints and and swivel, plus extra joints on his calves that let him stay flat-footed in wide stances. Sadly, his arms don't turn out so well, and mine has an extremely loose shoulder joint at the rotation, which I don't believe can be tightened.

Lockdown has one accessory: his engine, which becomes a cannon. Nothing flips out or changes like the original, so he really just has an engine block on his arm, but it can fit on the deluxe size Ratchet of the same line, so points for interactivity.

Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation: With all the panels, you'd think Lockdown would be an exercise in frustration, but he actually folds out and back very intuitively. 4/10
Durability: Mine came with several loose joints, but otherwise nothing seemed like it would be a problem later. 8/10
Fun: He's an alien bounty hunter, plus he has limited interaction with another figure of the line. 8/10
Value/Price: Lockdown exemplifies quality, mostly. The loose joints are very annoying, however. Still, fans of the character will be happy with what they get, and others will be pleased with a solid toy. 7/10
Overall: Honestly, I still prefer the Animated version. Largely, I'll admit, because I really liked the show and consider Revenge of the Fallen a flaming shit-storm. But I like the bulk of the Animated version's robot mode to the skinny chicken limbs of the new one. On the other hand, the Movie version has a fantastic vehicle mode, and the posability of the robot mode is top notch. A solid buying decision. 8/10

[kupimus aka(clocker)]

hmmm...which one is the animated one and which one is the rotf one?

[Blackjack]

Animated's the one on the right, the one with the light green.

Proofed, excellent review as always. Personally, I think it's rather redundant to release another near-identical Lockdown toy in such a short span from Animated, especially when the yellow chainsaw repaint is still pegwarming in some places. I don't really feel much for the Animated character, honestly, and I already got his Animated toy, so personally I'm not going to pick him up unless he goes on clearance sale.

[Blackjack]

Brawn's function is 'brawn'? Oh well, it works.

Didn't he get a Universe legends new mold, though? I couldn't find it anywhere, but I'm sure there's one... nice review anyhow.

[ganon578]

Name: Darkwind
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: Aerial Assault
Group: Universe G1 Series, Ultra Class

“Things are never as bad as they seem - usually they're worse.”

There are those who might call Darkwind bitter or pessimistic. In his opinion, if you're not at least a little bit bitter, you're not paying attention. To Darkwind, life is one long, unending trial of pain and suffering. What's not to be bitter about? Some guys with his attitude write poetry. Others paint themselves black and mope. Not Darkwind. If life is going to be nothing but a pit of darkness, he's going to make sure that at least it's worse for everyone else than it is for him.

Darkwind is actually “Darkwing” from Generation 1, but I’m guessing that trademarks got in the way and Hasbro had to name him Darkwind instead. The name isn’t too far from the mark and is still pretty cool. Though every time I hear the name “Darkwing”, I immediately think of Darkwing Duck. The original Darkwing was released in 1988 as a Powermaster, and this Universe homage was released in 2009 as a Toys R Us exclusive alongside Autobot Countdown. Darkwind is an Ultra class Transformer, and is a repaint of Universe Silverbolt (which has also been repainted into Wal-mart exclusive Skyfall). Darkwind never had an appearance in the G1 cartoon, but did do a few things in the comics (though I never read any of them, so I have no knowledge on this – you can check out his info on TF Wiki for more information). Regardless, I picked him up because of his interesting paint job. Most of this review will focus on what I think makes Darkwind stand out amongst his mold-brethren, and you can see Kamen’s Silverbolt review for other information. Review time!

Alternate Mode:

Darkwind’s alternate mode is a fictional FB-129 supersonic fighter/bomber. In jet bomber mode, you can push a small blue 3-hexagon button on the top of the bomber to engage 3 different sound effects. One is a machine gun sound that causes the front LED lights to blink, and will continue as long as you hold the button. Another sound is like a missile launch, and the last is a turbo-boosting sound that causes the rear engine LED lights to blink. Not really noteworthy, but I guess they’re kind of neat. The detail on Darkwind is rather good, as panel lines and molded detail cover the ship from front to back. The downside to this alternate mode is the blatant robot-tacked-on-bottom-of-jet mode. This really has to do with Universe Silverbolt looking like G1 Silverbolt, but that’s another review. The alternate mode has small landing gear wheels that do little else than to keep the jet off the ground. One nice feature in this mode is Darkwind’s rifle blaster securely plugs into the underside of the jet mode, allowing for some missile-launching fun! Radical!

The paint apps on Darkwind are quite stellar. Most of the jet is a dark grey color, but he is accented by powder blue, light grey, purple, and gold. It sounds like a vomit-inducing color combination, but actually works well, and fits right in to toys that were debuted in the late 1980’s. The dark grey runs the entirety of the jet, and the purple adorns his wings. Gold accents run the length of the wing edges, and he even has gold lightning bolts on the wings! Awesome! The smaller stabilizing wings are light grey and are accented by powder blue along the edges. One silver-lined, purple Decepticon symbol is displayed in the top of the cockpit. Speaking of which, the cockpit windows are a transparent purple. Sadly, there is no LED in there to light up. Overall it’s a pretty slick alt mode if you can get around the robot-on-the-bottom deal.

Robot Mode:

This mode is where I get most of my enjoyment out of Darkwind. The quick and easy (but fun) transformation to get Darkwind from bomber to robot is accompanied by a ‘transformation’ sound when you slide his legs up and simultaneously reveal his head. This motion also sets off the red LED lights in his eyes. It’s a pretty nice addition and I get some weird satisfaction from hearing that little sound clip. For paint apps, a vast majority of the blue coloring comes out in this mode. The powder blue is very apparent here, and it is accompanied by a darker shade of blue that makes up the robot torso. The torso itself has some silver paint apps, as well as a purple ‘Con symbol that is proudly displayed in the middle of his chest. The grey takes a back seat here and is only really seen in the lower legs. The purple that was formerly on the top of the wings is also on the bottom, and makes up the majority of his back. As for detail, Darkwind has the same detail as Silverbolt, and the molded features are really well done. The head mold works surprisingly well for this character (considering it was designed for Silverbolt). The dark grey and light blue combination keep him closely tied to his G1 predecessor. Articulation of this figure is good, and a lot of the joints on him are click joints, which hold him in place well. If I had to nit-pick, I’d say he’s slightly back-heavy (the entire jet is basically his backpack) and he has really small heels, which doesn’t help some standing poses. Overall though, the figure is well made and has a really cool paint job in my opinion.

Final remarks:

Darkwind is a neat addition to any Classics collection. However, due to the relatively obscure nature of the character, the price point (~$30 US) and store exclusivity, Darkwind is not a must have. On the other hand, if you have his counterpart Dreadwind (Botcon ’07 exclusive figure), which I don’t, he would be a welcome addition to your collection. Overall I can’t recommend you hunt him down. He’s cool and has a pretty paint job, but I don’t think he’s truly worth the price tag and limited availability.

Marks out of 10:

Transformation: 5. Simple. The sounds and lights that accompany it are neat.
Durability: 9. Incredibly solid. Click joints are nice too.
Fun: 6. You can’t do much with him, but he has some good poses.
Aesthetics: 7. This completely hinges on your opinion of the color scheme.
Articulation: 7. Nice amount of joints, and most of them click. Wrist joints would have been nice.
Value/Price: 5. Expensive for what you get. And he’s an exclusive. Might have been better as a Voyager class figure in the $20 US price range.
Overall: 6. He’s a good figure, that’s for sure. But the obscure character, exclusive nature, and price bring him down.