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Treadshot A1
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Post by Treadshot A1 »

I totally agree with you. That spear is awesome. So awesome, I have Skyblast, Air Raid and Skyblast. All 3.
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Blackjack
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Post by Blackjack »

Pictures. Dunno how I forgot to do these.

1) Beast mode. w/ Classics Grimlock as comparison
2) Robot mode. Yesssss.
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Blackjack
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Post by Blackjack »

Yep. Spear rocks. Of the four Omnibot molds, Arcee's crossbow, while impressive from a distance, looks like it's made up of kibble (which it does). Strongarm's axe needs larger wheel blades IMO, and I've not (yet) gotten my hands on a Signal Flare. So for now, best weapon? SPEAR.

Oh, since Starscream kills 'Raid...
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ganon578
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Post by ganon578 »

You said you picked him up at Walmart.... wasn't he a Target exclusive? I thought all the movie scouts were Target exclusives...
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Transformer Kamen
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Post by Transformer Kamen »

ganon578 wrote:You said you picked him up at Walmart.... wasn't he a Target exclusive? I thought all the movie scouts were Target exclusives...
I'll admit that I was wondering about that as well. Your Movie Armorhide review also has him as a Wal-Mart figure, though...

Anyway, great review, as usual :up:

And...his spear splits into four pieces?! I have both the movie Skyblast and Air Raid figure and never realized the haft of the spear is detachable. Now he gets a beating stick, how charming! :lol:
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secretcode
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Post by secretcode »

I agree with Kamen, great review, and keep up the good work!

Also, Signal Flare's weapon is weaksauce.
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Treadshot A1
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Post by Treadshot A1 »

Yeah. Flare's weapon is too long, so he can't really hold it without looking stupid. It works as a Microscope part, but otherwise...
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Review of Movie Legends Ice Megatron VS Battle Jazz [proofed]

Post by zeoman4.5 »

Names Megatron (Ice) vs Jazz (Final Battle)
Functions Leader of the Decepticons; Autobot lieutenant Commander
Group AllSpark Battle Pack, 07 Movie Legends class


In the final battle for the AllSpark, MEGATRON cuts a swath across a human city, destroying everything he sees. With the other AUTOBOTS occupied by DECEPTICON BRAWL, AUTOBOT JAZZ is the only soldier left to take on the DECEPTICON leader, though he knows he doesn’t stand a chance against the mighty MEGATRON. As he confronts the immense tyrant, he knows that no matter what occurs, he will have gone down defending the weak, fighting as a true AUTOBOT.


Its about half a year 'til the premiere of the Transformers Revenge of the
Fallen, and I'm about to review a pair of figures from the aftermath of the first movie. I'll admit, I never thought I'd be reviewing these figures, since I own both the of the standard variants of Megatron and Jazz. This pack is one of the biggest shelf warmers of the year, yet I can never pass up a bargain and got the pair for $3 at K-mart a couple months ago. I'll say I was actually surprised with the results. I'll get to why in the body of the review.

Let me just say one thing about the battle scene this package is supposed to represent. I hated this scene from the film, Jazz was the one Autobot with a cool personality and he gets killed off. Of course it was only played out that way to show off how powerful Megatron really was, but still it made me angry as BW Quickstrike without any keisters to kick. What's done is done. I can't change it, but Jazz remains my favorite movie Autobot.

Jazz Robot Mode
I have to say this before I start, I barely can enjoy the legends mould for movie Jazz. It is so disproportionate, kibbly, and non-accurate that most fans and even kids, completely abhor this little abomination. Its not that he is a poorly made its just they made him well in a way that ruined the figure. The way it looks is kinda like the larger Jazz figure. Bumper and grill for a chest, doors for arms, huge legs that have big panels sticking up. I could go through more but I really don't want to. He's not to pretty, lets leave it at that.

His paint scheme is a light grey for most every thing but the, upper legs, wheels, feet, and grills on the chest. The head lights on the chest are yellow, and he has a tiny Pontiac hood ornament. Unlike the standard
variant, Battle Jazz has painted on armor cracks and stress marks on his loser legs and torso. That's the only difference between him and the first. He's got a blue visor on his face, the only good looking thing about his head.

As far as articulation goes, he has rotating shoulders and ball jointed hips.
That's all. He completely lacks weaponry due to his Legends size class, and honestly he doesn't even look like he could stand on his own, let alone fight a Decepticon. I really wish I could say more positive things about him, I mean he isn't terrible and there have been much worse. He can be fun, if your willing to over look his appearance and just play, but not a great display piece.

Jazz Vehicle mode
Movie Jazz is supposed to be an '08 Pontiac Solstice, but this Jazz must have gotten confused somewhere. He looks like a car, but He's got a bumper on the roof and a pair of prongs on the front bumper. There is a lot of detail parts but none are painted. The only thing that isn't grey is the windshield. They actually put more detail into the bumper on the roof than the one on the front of the car. It just looks cheap. It plays well just like the robot mode did but the look is a major turn off. I will stop here. I really didn't want this review to turn into a hate fest and its not the toy's fault it was made ugly.

Megatron Robot Mode
Megatron's robot mode is good deal easier on the eyes and actually looks like the movie character he's based on. The only thing about it is that its a little skinny and shorter than some of the other legends figures, but that is not too serious.

Color-wise, he is a different in a couple ways from the first. His main plastic color is a light metallic blue, it is covered with air brushed white paint to give him a frosty look. The previous figure had black on the arms, inner legs and face, but now he has blue. This is actually a throw back to the G1 Farewell Megatron VSX from the Japan, who was also part of a 2 pack set. He manages to look both Icy and evil, very nice. Little red eyes complete the face.

He has decent articulation. Ball joints on the shoulders and hips, plus a
rotating waist and ball jointed neck. Not the most posable figure, but he is quite fun to mess around with. He has clawed hands and little guns on his hands as well. Overall he is very nice.

Megatron Vehicle Mode
Meg's vehicle mode is a Cybertronian supersonic attack fighter, which looks nothing like any earthen vehicle. The Legends take on this mode is fairly well done and looks decent. Megatron's head is visible unfortunately and is the only real flaw to an otherwise perfect vehicle mode. The Ice colors are actually nicer on this mode than the original colors were and honestly I liked those a lot. This is also one of the most fun vehicles of the Movie Legends line. Displays well. Not much else to say, he's good.

Marks out of Ten for the following:

Price 7 With these figures being shelf warmers, the prices are going down, not worth the full price though.
Transformation 3 Not difficult at all.
Durability 9 both are very sturdy, and can take most anything one
can dish out.
Fun 7 This is a mixed batch, Megatron is very fun, and Jazz has his moments as well, but in the end it's basically up to imagination
Overall 6.5 Not terrible, but the fact that it is a pair of repaints that really are not significantly different from there originals, makes them not such a compelling buy as the other AllSpark VS packs. However this is far better than I had imagined it.
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Transformer Kamen
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Post by Transformer Kamen »

Sounds like yours is in pretty sorry shape, so...

1) Beast Mode
2)Robot Mode
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Transformer Kamen
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Post by Transformer Kamen »

Good review.

One trouble spot, though. The last couple lines read as such:
blackjack wrote:
Recommended, but the Leader Class looks much better in my opinion. After all, these are supposed to be an intergalactic alien war. And for making a royal mess in the house. And filling the odd shelf.
Seems like you may have let your thoughts get ahead of your fingers. ;)
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Treadshot A1
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Post by Treadshot A1 »

Ah, that may have been my fault. If you'd just read the post...
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Treadshot A1
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Post by Treadshot A1 »

That's better. Slammers do Sukk @$$.
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Blackjack
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Post by Blackjack »

Proofed.

Still looking for a Cheetor. The local stores haven't got anything past the Galvatron wave...
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starlord
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Post by starlord »

I still looking for Cheetor,too.
A little nonsense now and then is cherished by the wisest of decepticons.
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Blackjack
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Post by Blackjack »

Thanks, Kamen for the photos! My 'Wrecks had lost its robot head, one of the T-Rex 'shell and the T-Rex chestpiece, as well as many other parts chipped off from playwear...
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Post by Blackjack »

Proofed. I was tempted to pick Ice Megs up, but with LOC Jazz hanging along? No way, baby, no way.
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Transformer Kamen
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Post by Transformer Kamen »

Yesh, but you see, once you've edited x number of review in a row, late at night, all the words tend toruntogether. And suddenly that rift from Singin' in the Rain is playin' in you head (Moses supposes his toes are roses, but Moses supposes erroneously.). Then the English language takes a vacation.... :swirly:
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Transformer Kamen
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Post by Transformer Kamen »

I do believe that we've now completed proofing of all three pages of reviews!

Hurrah! :clap:
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Blackjack
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Post by Blackjack »

Yay! :D Although some of the reviews on page three only have pictures...
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eHobby Clamp Down-[PROOFED]

Post by Cliffjumper »

Name: Clamp Down
Function: Some sort of cop

"It's just Garth Brooks in a wig!"

"Clampdown" is a single and a song by The Clash, on the album London Calling. The song began as a instrumental track called "Working and Waiting". It is sometimes called "Working for the Clampdown" which is the main lyric of the song, and also the title provided on the album's lyric sheet. Its lyrics comment on people who forsake the idealism of youth and urges young people to fight the status quo.

The trend for retooling and/or recolouring moulds that marked the first couple of series' of Transformers was rooted in Takara's Diaclone line, notably the Car Robot series. Only three of the fourteen designs in the series came out without some sort of modified version being released either alongside or after the initial release (for the trivia fans out there, they're the J-59 Jeep, the Porsche 935 and the Corvette Stingray, all of which would be recoloured or retooled at some point during their later careers as Transformers). These ranged from large changes, such as the Fire Engine figure being modified as a Crane Truck or Battle Convoy's reuse receiving a completely new combining trailer, to straight recolours. One of their little quirks that sat somewhere in-between was converting figures to police types - basically adding a light bar and recolouring the thing in black and white. This was done with little regard for realism, and it meant the original Countach mould based on a one-off customised car with an enormous rear-mounted engine (later reused for Sunstreaker).

The later Lamborghini mould (the one reused as Sideswipe) also got the same treatment. When the Car Robot figures were exported to America for Transformers, Hasbro decided one police car was enough (the Datsun got the gig as Prowl, while the earlier Lambo police car was skipped altogether), and the figure was recoloured in fire department livery, becoming Red Alert. The police scheme remained exclusive to the Diaclone line (inspiring many fanboys to stop up several hundred pounds to buy one) until 2003. As a tie-in with the Transformers Collection of Lambor (the Japanese name for Sideswipe), the mould's three original variants were also reissued. Figure King Magazine sold the yellow version as Tigertracks, while eHobby released the black version (as Deep Cover) and the police version (as Clamp Down). Due to the Universe Sideswipe/Sunstreaker mould, those three are probably coming to a BotCon near you in a year or so.

Alternate Mode:

Clamp Down's car mode is a bit of a weird one. Normally, a police Lamborghini Countach would be weird enough to score big points, but the truth is Hasbro trumped it with the fire Lamborghini Countach. Next to his recolour, Clamp Down looks a little bit bland and underwhelming. That's probably a little unfair - on its own merits, the car mode is rather pretty. The Countach is a lovely design (it pisses all over the flat-faced Diablo and the disappointing Gallardo), and it does look sharp in the two-tone police scheme.

One minor problem though - the black strip behind the doors is a sticker that has to be applied, and it's a pain, not fitting at all well. Thankfully, gloss model paint does the job just as well. Also, like Red Alert, several of the stickers are surrounded by gloss white areas, which stand out a bit against the plastic.

Robot Mode:

Obviously, the transformation is unchanged from Sideswipe/Red Alert - it's simple and straightforward with no real faults, but lacks the inventive nature of most, if not all, of the other Autobot cars. However, simple isn't necessarily a bad thing, and in this case the result is one of the better-proportioned early Autobot moulds. The arms are maybe a little thin and the head a little small, but aside from that it's decent enough. Articulation is basically non-existent - the shoulder joints are hamstrung by the weight of the arms, while the elbow joints can't be moved far without gaping holes appearing in the arms. The toes can fold up a little as well, but only if you're prepared for the figure to fall forward and shatter due to Takara's lousy durability factor (actually, that's harsh, as the Countach mould is one of the few Car Robot moulds that isn't designed to explode when you touch it).

His chest stickers are a slight mess - the white area around the 'Cybertron' police badge is ugly and requires a little work with an art knife, while the idea of sticking the faction insignia on top of this is a bit silly. Personally, I just omitted the star further down, and placed the insignia just below the police badge. Also, my example suffered from Takara's abysmal excuse for quality control, and had extremely loose legs. Maybe if they'd spent less time manufacturing lolita Hentai they wouldn't be Tomy's bitch right now (if Kiss Players was under Tomy's auspices - I can't be bothered to look it up - let's just pretend I'm leveling general accusations of producing child porn at Takara). These are minor niggles, though, and Clampdown's a solid figure, and looks especially great displayed alongside the other Countaches.
Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation: 3 - Pretty simple
Durability: 7 - It's aged quite well, and you'd have to be a ham-fisted moron to break this thing. The G2 Sideswipe fell off my desk and didn't break either.
Fun: 5 - He has a single missile launcher! And that's it!
Price: 3 - The eHobby exclusives can be found cheaply on ebay (lawlzar evilbay) at around £40 a pop, usually boxed and complete. However, bear in mind that that's more than Red Alert generally goes for, and you're paying the extra for a (rather poor) sticker sheet and a stripe of black paint.
Overall: 6 - There's nothing wrong with Clamp Down, it's just you have to ask yourself whether buying a police version of Red Alert is really that much of a priority when there are so many other toys out there. Of course, if you're some fanboy incapable of straying beyond Hasbro & Takara's Transformers wares, he'll do the job.
Attachments
clampdown_robot.jpg
clampdown_alt.jpg
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