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HeavyArms
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Post by HeavyArms »

Studio Series Optimus Prime.

POTP Roadtrap.
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Tantrum
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Post by Tantrum »

Most aren't opened yet, but this weekend I got...

TLK Hotrod at Ollie's, which is not Walmart. Ollie's put their price tag over the Walmart exclusive sticker, so I wouldn't get confused. The QC on the leg paint isn't great, so I got 2; one where the only error is on the left shin, another where the left shin is OK. Plus, Ollie's is kind of a pain to get to, so I don't want to have to drive there again just to make an exchange if one's defective. They were $8 each, so buying 2 is about what Walmart would've charged for 1.

I plan to Gundam marker the almost good one. If that doesn't work, I'll do a leg swap. If that does work, the other will be trade fodder.

TR Deluxe Repugnus - I'll probably use the green visored head that came with the little Repugnus instead of the nonvisored one this guy came with. He'll probably spend most of the time in beast mode, so it won't matter much.

CW Blastoff (shuttle) - Not only will this give me a more accurate Bruticus, freeing up jet Blastoff will give me enough limbs for another combiner. That won't happen until after I get bored with him.

Prime Dark Energon Knock Out at a flea market, MOSC. I like the mold and the translucent plastic looks neat.


I have opened SS Megatron - This is the first proper movie Megatron I own. Everything else has been either a kiddie line or that stealth bomber with a TLK head that was a TRU exclusive. I'm disappointed. I'd heard about gaps in his torso, but thought that meant the fact that his torso didn't extend the full width of his chest plate, as you can see in package. I didn't realize until opening him that his torso is hollow enough that I can poke a finger into one side and have it come out the other.

I've tried to transfrom him into tank mode twice, and haven't gotten it yet. I almost get it, but am doing something wrong with the hips since the rear axles aren't quite parallel to each other, so he rolls poorly. The leg panels fall off whenever I try to fiddle with the legs to get them into place, so I gave up. I decided to take a break with a less frustrating Transformer, so I put RotF deluxe Dead End into vehicle mode for the first time in over 6 years.

I didn't mind the grey color with bits of gold deco in package. But on the shelf, it makes the entire figure look like a non-descript mush of grey spikes. Points for screen accuracy, I guess. Looking at him now, from less than 4 feet away, I can barely make out that he has a head. Something textured looking, like SS Grimlock's deco, would've helped immensely.

The only good thing I can say about him is that his rubber fingers are flexible enough, yet strong enough, to hold Starscream's (OK, SS Thundercracker's) head, like in TLK.
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ganon578
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Post by ganon578 »

A bunch of stuff has come my way as of late - just about too much to keep up with, but here we go:

PotP Alpha Trion & Landmine: Got this while ordering some (as he calls them) 'little guys' - Shuffler, Ptero, Metalhawk, etc. for my son's birthday via HTS. He was the last Prime Master in the set, so I grabbed him to finish it off. Nothing special, but it's nice to have the whole lineup.

PotP Cutthroat: Found this guy at Walmart and he's currently filling in the last gap of my Megascream (jet Blast-Off, Darkwing, and Dreadwind are the others), though I may end up getting a different jet in the long run. He's OK, but not quite as nice as Swoop was.

PotP Blot: This dude is fun. I don't know what it is, but the alt mode is just awesome. He's all squatty and grumpy and I love it. The hand-flips that make the claws is neat too. He's also currently one leg of my Grand Galvatron.

PotP Sinnertwin: Mostly because I already had the other three Terrorcons. Not too shabby, but I think Warcry mentioned he's stocky in odd spots which I think is accurate. On the other hand he's fairly standard for a deluxe and the colors aren't as garish as I had originally thought based on photos. I kinda dig the two headed monster thing too.

Dammit. Now I might have to get a Hun-Gurrr to round them all out.

G1 Reissue Starscream (Walmart): After a ridiculous escapade of securing this guy - pre-ordered in late June, Walmart cancels my pre-order 3 days after it was supposed to ship (and also after the charge ghosting into my bank account twice). I end up venting to a chat support person on WM's website. As I chat, he tells me it's back in stock on their website. Sure as s***, it's available, so I order one with free shipping (site-to-store), then also another to hedge my bets and pay $6 for shipping to my house. Literally 1-2 hours after placing my orders on the same day my pre-order was cancelled both of them ship. The one to my house arrives Friday. The one to the store made it to my town and was placed on a delivery truck... which is where it sat until the finally off-loaded it yesterday afternoon. Both SS's were squeezed into too tight of a box, so the top of the packaging is all bent over. :wall: Holy crap I hope I never have to go through Walmart online for an exclusive ever again. As I understand it, I'm not the only one who experienced this, as an article popped up on Seibertron about it a day or so later.

On a positive note, I love my little G1 Starscream! I had forgotten how many random parts the G1 figure had. A lot of parts forming, with quite a few gaps in jet mode. And I severely dislike stickers. Thank the heavens for tampos and already applied stickers. The upside is they seem really sturdy with good adhesive. And the Megatron gun he comes with is pretty neat too. :) Not sure if it was worth all the hassle, but I still love him.
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Warcry
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Post by Warcry »

Robot Masters Megatron arrived, like, a week before I was expecting it. Yay!

I've never owned any version of the original dino Megatron, so this little Robot Masters redux is my first experience with the design. And just like the RM LioConvoy that I got from dalek a few years ago, it really does feel like this is the size it should have been from the get-go. The design is pretty simple and works great for something that's maybe half-way between a Basic and a Deluxe, as an Ultra I think he'd just feel unfinished. Especially when the original didn't even have the optional left hand that this figure adds. The tail-arm always looked unforgivable on the original, to me.

But shrunken down to this size, it's a fun figure! I like the transformation, at this scale, and the beast mode has pretty good articulation for the time. The robot mode is wonky, but that's on the source material rather than this particular figure, which I think does a good job of evoking the original while seeming a fair bit less clunky. The only thing about the robot mode that I don't care for is the new head, which makes Megatron look like he's permanently inconsolable.

He compliments RM Primal and LioConvoy really nicely, and having all three of them together makes me wish that they'd redone some of the other Beast Wars leader figures for Robot Masters. Some of them probably wouldn't have been workable (imagine the nightmare that a Basic-sized Big Convoy would be!) but it would have been pretty cool to get Primal and Megatron's Transmetal forms, and maybe Galvatron or Magmatron.
ganon578 wrote:G1 Reissue Starscream (Walmart):
That sounds like a fiasco. I'm glad you tracked him down in the end, though. I've always thought the Seekers felt more like a model kit than a Transformer, with all the partsforming going on, but they're definitely an iconic piece of the brand's history at this point.

I love that they're reissuing the G1 figures again but I'm sad at the same time because I already own practically all of the ones they've put out (aside from Swerve and Outback). But hopefully the line does well enough to warrant a second wave with toys I don't already have!

The only one I was actually excited about was G1 Bumblebee, who I'd have loved to get to complement that shiny G2 Bee I've had since I was a kid...but Hasbro ruined it for me by using the cartoon-accurate head. :( And I totally get wanting show-accuracy from new figures, but going back and revising stuff from the 80s seems counterproductive to me.
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Clay
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Post by Clay »

Warcry wrote:Robot Masters Megatron arrived, like, a week before I was expecting it. Yay!
Cool. Denyer still got his primal first though, go figure.
I've never owned any version of the original dino Megatron, so this little Robot Masters redux is my first experience with the design. And just like the RM LioConvoy that I got from dalek a few years ago, it really does feel like this is the size it should have been from the get-go.

He compliments RM Primal and LioConvoy really nicely, and having all three of them together makes me wish that they'd redone some of the other Beast Wars leader figures for Robot Masters. Some of them probably wouldn't have been workable (imagine the nightmare that a Basic-sized Big Convoy would be!).
Nah, like I was saying to Denyer, if you're not too pedantic about it the robotmaster primal and lio convoy are kind of in scale with big convoy, animal wise (I think the mammoth would actually need to be bigger, but whatevs). Kinda-sorta Magmatron too, now that you mention it...
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Post by Tetsuro »

Warcry wrote:I love that they're reissuing the G1 figures again but I'm sad at the same time because I already own practically all of the ones they've put out (aside from Swerve and Outback). But hopefully the line does well enough to warrant a second wave with toys I don't already have!
That's my biggest point of contention with the reissue line-up - I already own all of them, as better releases no less, and even if you don't already own them, pretty much all of the previous reissues can still be found relatively cheap and the most you might save with these is maybe ten or twenty bucks, and I'm not comparing them to the Hasbro reissues either.

I'd love to see some all new reissues (Overlord's a pipe dream) but if we even got '84 minibots besides Bumblebee, that alone would make me bite.
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Warcry
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Post by Warcry »

Clay wrote:Cool. Denyer still got his primal first though, go figure.
I've had the same thing happen to me a few times -- mailed one thing to the US and another to the UK on the same day and the UK one arrived first. It kinda makes sense, though. Stuff going to the UK pretty much needs to go on a plane the whole way, but regular mail between Canada and the US probably spends a lot of time on trucks.
Clay wrote:Nah, like I was saying to Denyer, if you're not too pedantic about it the robotmaster primal and lio convoy are kind of in scale with big convoy, animal wise (I think the mammoth would actually need to be bigger, but whatevs). Kinda-sorta Magmatron too, now that you mention it...
That's true, but then I'd need to grab the original Ultra Megatron so that he'd be in beast-scale. :(
Tetsuro wrote:I'd love to see some all new reissues (Overlord's a pipe dream) but if we even got '84 minibots besides Bumblebee, that alone would make me bite.
A different slate of Minibots would have caught my eye too. Or a combiner team other than the Constructicons. But it made sense to lead with Starscream, Hot Rod, Bumblebee and Devastator, since the last wave of reissues was a decade and a half ago. I'm just surprised that there's no G1 Optimus reissue.
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Post by Tetsuro »

I didn't even notice Optimus Prime was missing from the line-up. Maybe it's because he's been reissued the most. At least Bumblebee and Devastator have never had Hasbro reissues at all, so that's something.
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Post by Tantrum »

ganon - Are you returning the other Starscream, or keeping him to replace the parts you'll eventually lose? If the reissue stickers are similar to the original stickers, they should last OK. I've had my G1 Starscream since he came out 30+ years ago. The stickers on the wings and knees have worn from being stored in a drawer. But, the ones in the recessed shouled pilons and feet look nearly new.

warcry - The Bumblebee keychains that came out 15 years ago used the original toy's masked face. With the new reissue coming, the prices on those keychains might drop. The chain itself comes off easily enough, except for the pastic loop on the bumper that the chain connects to.


I opened CW Blastoff (shuttle). I dont like him as much as I thought I would, given how much I like Strafe. The nose cone detaches whenever I try to fold it into the torso. That's only used in bot mode, so you don't have a hood behind Blastoff's head, so I probably won't bother. It would've mattered in the UW version, where the torso is reversed, but that must look awful with the chest sticking out as much as it does. One reason so many bots have giant backpacks is that giant frontpacks are worse.

I did have to swap the shoulder joints so the arms could fold up to make the arm mode correctly. They now look a little off in bot mode, since the upper and lower biceps are no longer flush. But, he now makes a much better arm for Bruticus than the jet did. His HFG had the same silverish sheen as the Autobot cars, not the flat grey of the other Combaticons, so I'm still using jet Blastoff's HFG.

TR Repugnus (Deluxe) is pretty good. The transfromation from bot chest to beast arms is more involved that I thought it'd be, though it still causes the rare case of hollow forearms in alt mode. The weapons look good as a single claw mounted on the bot's arm, or a TM seat mounted on the beast's shoulder, or stored on the bot's back. But, they don't look great as a pair of swords due to the connecting pegs sticking out.

The TM seat is especially nice, as I can't get the cockpit open. Maybe I could if I fiddled with it more. But, I wouldn't want to do that again to get the TM out, so I'm ignoring it.

I haven't decided what to do with the translucent PMs yet. I tried putting them in Overlord's chest compartments. But, they look worse than the regular ones, and Megatronus got stuck. I has to use pliers to get him out.
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Post by Cyberstrike nTo »

Well this one was a HUGE surprise but I just got Transformers: Generations-Titans Return Trypticon! Honestly I had written getting this toy off but I found him at a local Ollie's Discount store for $50. My Dad bought him for me! My Dad is so cool.
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Skyquake87
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Post by Skyquake87 »

That's a bargain! I love Trypticon. He's a big daft robot dinosaur. And I have Predaking ride him like a horse :) And your dad is cool.
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Post by ganon578 »

Tantrum wrote:ganon - Are you returning the other Starscream, or keeping him to replace the parts you'll eventually lose? If the reissue stickers are similar to the original stickers, they should last OK. I've had my G1 Starscream since he came out 30+ years ago. The stickers on the wings and knees have worn from being stored in a drawer. But, the ones in the recessed shouled pilons and feet look nearly new.
I hadn't 100% decided yet what to do with him. At first I was going to return the spare, or sell it. Then I put the wing stickers on the one I opened just crooked enough for them to bother me. They don't sit perfectly perpendicular when standing in robot mode, but I don't know if normal people would even notice. They're at least at the exact same angle. So I opened the other and stole the wings and fixed the stickers. So while I could return it (since Walmart employees without TF knowledge wouldn't notice), morality suggests I should keep it or sell it off. If you're interested, just shoot me a PM. :)
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Post by Tantrum »

ganon578 wrote:So while I could return it (since Walmart employees without TF knowledge wouldn't notice), morality suggests I should keep it or sell it off. If you're interested, just shoot me a PM. :)
Put the mis-stickered wings in with the 2nd Starscream, along with the partially used sticker sheet, so the box contains 1 complete Starscream figure, just with some stickers already applied. Then, return that to the store. Given how poorly distribution goes, this might be the only chance for some lucky TF fan to find Starscream in store.

It's like the Stinger I saw at my local Walmart. Somone had clearly bought him, attempted to transform him, failed, shoved the resulting eldritch abomination back into the box, and returned him. It's not there anymore, so I assume someone bought it. It was the only Stinger on the shelf.
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Post by Skyquake87 »

Some bits from The Entertainer's recent sale...

TLK Legion Crosshairs & Drift
Don't really care for the characters, Crosshairs is a cocky prick and Drift is all the worst cliches of western ideas of Japan and ninjas, but these are surprisingly ace tiny toys. Both look great in robot mode and have decent Transformations. Drift in particular is great, packing a less eye searing red than his Premier Edition figure and nicer paint apps overall.

In another example of the baffling world of retail, another new TF line arrives at The Entertainer and is straight away plonked on sale with 20% or more off the standard RRP...

Studio Series Crowbar
I was thinking of going for Stinger, but the figure looks so plain, just gang molded in red plastic with some ever-awesome black clip on wheels, so I skipped it in favour of Crowbar. Who is excellent... if a little annoying in places. Robot mode is superb, nice and creepy with some nice detailing and sculpting. He's gangly, hunched and spiky and I love his muzzled face and painted eyes. The long dreads look brilliant and I like his horrible looking barbs that he wields. He's a total shell-former, as the other dreads are, and tucking his dreadlocks away is a task and you can feel them trying to get out. Which is annoying. I wish these could have been hinged to fold away or made out of a slightly more pliable material.
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Clay
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Post by Clay »

Got a few new things over the past few weeks, but the first things to mention are movie masterpiece bumblebee and barricade. Well... yeah, they're pretty much masterpieces. Unlike all their other figures, more work went into the three dimensionality of the designs. Less parts cheating, more attention paid to the robot back, etc. The use of die cast metal gives them a nice heft, and it's used sensibly to help stability instead of hinder it. I like them... if they continue with the movie masterpieces sparingly, I could easily see myself collecting these.

I also bought robotmasters smokesniper and gigant bomb off Ebay in a very pleasant exchange. They were the only figures of the line I had skipped back in the day, and finding primal and megatron a few weeks ago set that fire alight. Also, I got a junker metroplex to swap parts on since my own got badly yellowed from morning sunlight over the past few years. Be wary of east and west facing windows, people!

Also, since I could never find a picture beforehand, here are prowl and barricade together.

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Post by ganon578 »

Tantrum wrote:Put the mis-stickered wings in with the 2nd Starscream, along with the partially used sticker sheet, so the box contains 1 complete Starscream figure, just with some stickers already applied. Then, return that to the store. Given how poorly distribution goes, this might be the only chance for some lucky TF fan to find Starscream in store.

It's like the Stinger I saw at my local Walmart. Somone had clearly bought him, attempted to transform him, failed, shoved the resulting eldritch abomination back into the box, and returned him. It's not there anymore, so I assume someone bought it. It was the only Stinger on the shelf.
That's probably what I'll end up doing. And honestly, the logos aren't applied in any haphazard way, they're really off by about 1 mm, but just enough to irk me. And I think you're right, someone will come by and snatch it without issue as their only chance to grab one.
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Post by Tantrum »

ganon578 wrote:That's probably what I'll end up doing. And honestly, the logos aren't applied in any haphazard way, they're really off by about 1 mm, but just enough to irk me. And I think you're right, someone will come by and snatch it without issue as their only chance to grab one.
So, did I talk you out of cutting me a deal on the tail fins and ammo I PMed you about? Dammit. Oh well. If TLK Hotrod's any indication, the Walmart exclusives reissues will end up at discounters next year.

Speaking of discounters, I got TLK Strafe, Crosshairs, and Drift at Ollie's for $5 each. I already have the AoE versions. But, Drift's heavily remolded, Crosshairs has an all plastic coat which should outlast the rubber one, and Strafe was, well, probably a waste of $5. He may end up at work while AoE stays home.
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Post by ganon578 »

Tantrum wrote:So, did I talk you out of cutting me a deal on the tail fins and ammo I PMed you about? Dammit. Oh well.
No, no, not at all. I'll send you a PM later today. :)
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Post by HeavyArms »

POTP Outback.
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Skyquake87
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Post by Skyquake87 »

Studio Series Leader Class Blackout
Bought before I miss the Entertainers current discounting of the line and because Blackout is probably my favourite Movie 'bot; thanks to that opening scene from the first film. I had the '07 figure some years back, but he's long gone and the Studio Series has caught my eye as a way to pick up the movie cast in a range that's consistent and not having to deal with play gimmicks like 'Mech Alive' or 'Mech Tech'. Blackout is huge. He's a lovely, bulky chap with a fun transformation that treads a fine line between something to actually transform and a shell-former. Articulation is nixed by his bulk and he misses having wrists, but is best just left around looming like the monster he is. The pack-in Scorponok is excellent, really nicely painted and detailed and a fun little thing. Helicopter looks good and am glad they went with a consistent approach of static wheels, rather than as often happens, the front ones move and the rear ones don't. Sadly the main rotor doesn't spin as freely as I'd like, but that's a minor complaint on what is otherwise a fab movie leader class toy.
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