POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

[Clay]

Another package arrived last night! Considering all the new arrivals, I haven't had much time to spend with them individually. But I've got some first impressions.

I found the three remaining terrorcon limbs Monday. I'm sorry, but I can't be even remotely objective about them.

Hungrr should be here monday, wheeeee

[Skyquake87]

Power Of The Primes Hun Gurr
He's not the greatest, truth be told. The robot mode is fine, but the beast mode is a bit off here and there, but I can't tell you how happy I am to have this guy and his teammates. The Terrorcons are firm favourites of mine and I love having new, decently articulated versions of them that improve over the dumpy, but adorable originals. Hun Gurr is nice and tall and stands up straight. Even though this is just an extensive retool of the CW Silverbolt mode, it feels significantly different - I'm guessing it's the dragon mode that does that. He feels nice and sturdy and is good fun.

The combined form of Abominus looks excellent, it's a glorious colourful explosion of late '80s Transformers madness. I do find the pink feeties are a bit on the small side. I was hoping they'd be a bit bigger and more like Computron's hefty clompers. They work out fine though and he stands up well (Hun Gurr certainly feels a lot less wibbly than Scattorshot did) enough. The team are excellent and are far and away my favourite of all the CW gestalts I've picked up (Superion is now my second favourite. Sorry Superion).

POTP Blackwing
Haven't tried the combined mode yet, so no idea if that's as rickety and rubbish as you guys mentioned, but on his own merits I like him a lot more than Dreadwind. The mold has no surprises, but the new head, the two pistols and funky colours make him an unexpected hit. It's just a shame that the mold is absolutely knackered from overuse - he's loose as hell and his rubber fins (on mine) are warped beyond recovery. Is it just extensive mold reuse or is it the materials that conspire to make recent shared body Transformers wibbly messes?

[HeavyArms]

Studio Series Blackout - Bought him at about 15% off during Toys 'R' Us' closing down sale.

Titans Return Seaspray and Cosmos - Finally bought these two after not finding them locally last year, only to find them finally stocked and on clearance at $5! Kind of annoying really.

[Skyquake87]

Transformers Platinum Edition Breakout Battle
I've had this box set for a while and only just got around to opening it up! I never knew this existed until last month. Probably because it hit around the time Hasbro were flinging out Platinum box sets like there was no tomorrow. Essentially money for old rope, what you get is Vehicon (a nice redeco of the DOTM Crankcase figure with remoulded, rather than snipped fingers), Rollbar - a redeco of the T30 Skids figure done up as the rally car Shane drove and Optimus Prime - a redco of the Evasion mode Prime in a screen accurate deco (after Kade had cleaned him up a bit). It's a really neat set and I like the packaging which features Prime coming out of the barn where he was hiding. The three figures are all neat, although as ever, the non-movie figure included in the set does stick out a bit. I can see why everyone loves Evasion mode Prime - he's a fantastic figure and probably the best version of Movie Prime. I love his bad ass shot gun and the rusted up tan/ white/ brown paint job is awesome. Vehicon is excellent - but then, I always like the Crankcase mold. This is livened up by the inclusion of some blue plastics and some neat silver paint apps. Looks excellent. Had a bit of a time transforming him though - his dreadlocks just don't want to tuck away. Rollbar is good fun, but I find his shoulders are super restrictive. They seem to be too tight to the torso and just clash with the doors/ windows/ roof on his back, which negates some of his fun factor. Overall though, a fun themed set and worth picking up

[Tantrum]

NuRiD Activator Combiner Soundwave & Laserbeak - This is a mincon-activated gimmick, like toys from back when minicons were a thing. US$20 isn't too bad for a figure slightly larger than a Deluxe/Warrior and minicon.

Laserbeak transfroms from a bird to a gun. There's some auto transforming, where pulling out the tail flips the gun barrels around and retracts the head. The tail then becomes the handle, and the wings fold up. The wings fold more than shown in the box art or instructions, making for a gun with a triangular cross section.

Soundwave has a neck swivel, elbow hings, and shoulder hinges that allow him to make a T-shape. Using a shoulder hinge and elbow joint puts his arm in position for Laserbeak to sit there. But, Laserbeak doesn't attach, he just balances/leans on Soundwave's shoulder cannons.

Alt mode Soundwave is a decent representation of his cartoon look. The grill is not formed from the chest; only the chest is painted black, leaving the grill blue. Plugging Laserbeak into the top deploys two sets of cannons. Pushing Soundwave along the ground causes those cannons to oscillate forward and backward. When the cannon aren't deployed, they don't contact the oscillation mechanism, and he rolls normally.


I'm liking Overlord a lot more than I thought I would. I neutered the Titanmaster gimmick to use parts for SS Thundercracker. I thought about using a couple Primemasters with him, storing them in the chest compartments in robot mode, and having one pilot each vehicle. The I realized I don't actually want to fiddle with a couple little bots everytime I transform Overlord. I'm happier just transfroming a big bot quickly.

[Heinrad]

Finally decided to take the plunge and got POTP Slag and Swoop. And I do have to say, they’re pretty good. My only real complaint is that they just don’t look bulky enough to be Dinobots.

They do go oddly well with FoC Grimlock, though.

[inflatable dalek]

The original cartoon soundtrack on LP! The more recent reissue rather than the one that sold out almost at once. Looks great, has just about everything on it (very skewered towards More Than Meets the Eye and Nightmare Planet, but 98% of the music from the show came from those two episodes anyway), only gets mildly confusing when you associate a bit of music with a different episode to that which the sleevenote has it down from.

https://twitter.com/InflatableDalek/sta ... 6250153984

[HeavyArms]

Studio Series Crowbar - Bought during Big W's toy sale.

RID 2015 Galvatronus - Bought during Toys 'R' Us' closing down sale.

TR Gatorface & Decepticon Krok &
TR Chasm & Decepticon Quake - Both bought while on clearance at Big W for $10 each Cosmos & Seaspray were available at $5 a piece.

[Warcry]

So, um, it appears that my willpower has crumbled and I bought POTP Hun-grrr. As you all knew I would in spite of my constant protests to the contrary. At least I was able to hold out for a sale. That's something, right?

As a standalone figure, I have to say, he's pretty awful. The robot mode is basically just Silverbolt's, with the same mediocre poseability and wonky proportions. No real surprise there, given the shared engineering and the fact that the combiner Voyagers all prioritize a stable torso mode over a fun robot. The lack of any real weapons for the figure to wield (no, upside-down feet don't count) hurts too. The dragon mode is really disappointing, because the robot legs' proportions make for really unconvincing dragon necks, the combiner chest plate on the belly makes Hun-grrr look pregnant and the whole thing feels less dynamic and poseable than the 80s toy.

After handling the robot and beast modes I was strongly thinking about boxing him back up and taking him back to the store, but the figure redeems itself a bit as part of a combiner. Hun-grrr is solid as a rock in torso mode, and he's the best-looking of the torsos I own, which makes Abominus my favourite of the three combiners I've completed (Superion and Onslaught are the other two).

I do think it's funny that they molded Abominus's head based on his cartoon model (in particular, the triangle-shades look from Call of the Primitives), then painted it like the toy. But Hasbro's gonna Hasbro, I guess.

So I guess I'm sorta happy I bought him, as long as I never try to transform him out of torso mode? But I'm equally glad that I waited until he could be had for less than full price, because the now-$40 that Voyagers seem to be going for here is a ridiculous ask for something that's only passable in one mode.

[Clay]

I dislike the lack of his very distinct rifle, but I find myself charmed by the rest of him. The dragon mode is a little wonky with the forelegs (maybe they needed to be thicker?), but the dragon heads can look around and talk to each other like Agatha and Emily, so this completely compensates for any other deficiencies in the beast mode.

The original cartoon soundtrack on LP! The more recent reissue rather than the one that sold out almost at once. Looks great, has just about everything on it (very skewered towards More Than Meets the Eye and Nightmare Planet, but 98% of the music from the show came from those two episodes anyway),

What's the total runtime? I downloaded an unofficial compilation a few years ago that runs about 90 minutes total. Since the soundtrack is only one LP, it makes me wonder what's missing.

[HeavyArms]

POTP Tailgate.

[ganon578]

Grabbed a few things over the past couple weeks:

PotP Bludgeon, Skullgrin, and Octopunch. Passed on Bomb-Burst, for now, as I pre-ordered the space shuttle version of CW Blast Off via Amazon, that comes with a Megatronus. Still debating on him though, as he and Landmine would get me a full set of Pretenders (that I didn't intend to do at all).

I like them all so far, and they're pretty much impulse buys at this point. Octopunch might be my favorite of the group though - I like Bludgeon quite well, but the giant gun-thing he totes makes him front heavy, and I still can't wrap my head around Skullgrin's garden rake.

I was also able to pre-order a G1 Reissue Starscream via Walmart, which should arrive in about a month according to the website. I've never had a G1 Starscream, so I'm looking forward to adding him to my Starscream family.

[Tantrum]

Kreon Battlechangers Ironhide & Megaton - Two fun little puzzles that I built without instructions. The transformations are OK. I wouldn't mind the huge backpacks if the arms weren't completely unused in the alt modes. They do peg into place to help the vehicle fold together. But, they have no alt-mode parts attached to them. Ironhide doesn't even have hands.

PotP Landmine/Alpha Trion - A Metalhawk retool, with new shell front and matrix. The shell back & arm, and Primemaster body, are identical. He's OK, but I'm looking forward more to the monsterous looking ones in wave 3.

TLK Cogman from TJ Maxx, US$10. I haven't opened him yet. I just wanted to let you all know that he's out there.

2nd hand Cybertron Armorhide and Beast Machines Buzzsaw from a comic shop.

[Tetsuro]

Finally picked up TFC Tracks. Was supposed to get him last month, but I ended up spending so much money on everything else.

[HeavyArms]

Armada Tidal Wave - Purchased from eBay.

Studio Series Starscream - Purchased from eBay, actually wanted to buy from Toys 'R' Us but they didn't have any left, but I was lucky enough to find one for a similar price online.

[Skyquake87]

Commemorative Series Starscream
Been after one of these for a while, and finally got one for just over the RRP so I'm happy Daft that I wanted this, as I already have the Bookbox and Encore versions,
but collecting's funny like that. Bizarre that a lot of the Hasbro reissues are so expensive on the aftermarket now.

[ganon578]

PotP (CW) Blast Off w/ Megatronus (Amazon): Arrived in the mail yesterday - he's the space shuttle version. I like him, though I'm not sure he's really worth the extra cash as an exclusive. It feels like a new thing to me, but there's enough of the typical CW engineering to make it feel all too familiar. The paint apps are absolutely fantastic and the joints are solid. The included Megatronus is really nice - most of him is cast in transparent red plastic with a bunch of paint apps. I'm saddened that they didn't include the Bomb-Burst armor with it, so now I have a really neat Prime Master without a home.

On the bonus side, now I can use the jet version Blast Off with PotP Starscream to form a (mostly) all jet team.

[Warcry]

I found POTP Sludge and Snarl a few days ago. Snarl is my favourite Dinobot character and his original toy is one of my very favourite G1 figures, while Sludge is someone I don't really care about. So naturally the first new Snarl toy since G2 is entirely mediocre, and Sludge is fantastic.

Snarl has the same awkward shoulders as Sinnertwin (he should, they're basically the same toy), and his lower legs are annoying to pose because of their bulk. And also, out of all the POTP Dinobots Snarl really suffers the most from them substituting flat gold plastic for the shiny chrome that the G1 toys had. He's just not the same without the gleaming tail split in half adorning his shoulders.

Sludge on the other hand is basically Slag, but with most of Slag's issues fixed. This thighs don't constantly scrape up, since they're molded black rather than painted. He has the wings that were such an iconic part of both of their original toy designs (which Slag lost). His head articulation is way more useful too, since he doesn't have half a triceratops sitting on top of it. His transformation is a bit more involved too. My only real complaint is that they reused Slag's shoulders, even though the shoulders have molded details based on G1 Slag's stickers. But that's easily fixed if it bugs you like it bugs me -- you can pop the shoulders off, pop the arms apart and put everything back together with the shoulders reversed. He's definitely my favourite POTP Dinobot, and one of the nicer POTP toys overall.

[inflatable dalek]

Studio Series Starscream.

Damn, he's sexy. Almost too sexy. Fun transformation where everything goes as close to flush as makes no odds (certainly more than any jet TF I can remember playing with) and the even the underside isn't the usual mess.

And what a robot mode! So full of character. He's a scamp.

https://twitter.com/InflatableDalek/sta ... 2584713217

https://twitter.com/InflatableDalek/sta ... 6490095616

[HeavyArms]

TLK Dragonstorm - Heard a few reports on a local Transformers fan site that people have been finding Dragonstorm at 60-70% of it's original price of $100.
Also, for whatever reason, these were otherwise never found at local retail last year.

G1 Metroplex - Took a little while to actually pay for this as the seller spends a fair amount of time away from home. Also, it is missing a couple of parts relating to Scamper, so I will probably look into replacing those.

MW Optimus Prime - Not much to say here, he was at a reasonable price and will do, but I do want to get Thunder Clash version as well.