Core Wheelie looks good enough, but I don't really care about the character so I'm passing (I don't hate the character like a lot of the fandom, but I don't need him for my shelf)
Blue Rumble is a pair of elbows away from being perfect, sadly. I'll still get him due to the pile drivers. He's apparently bigger than the WfC mold, but still fits into Soundwave, so that's cool.
I'm already in on 3/5 Stunticons, so Dead End is a no brainer. He looks fine. Menasar is looking pretty sharp.
Skullgrin looks like a core class figure they decided to do with deluxe class engineering, but they didn't bother to fix any of the core class compromises, so he has a brick of a vehicle mode (which doesn't even look that much like his G1 form) and I could have used some more pretender decoration on his robot mode. Think I'll pass on him even though I think Igaunus and Bomburst look great. If he was core class I'd probably bite the bullet.
Inferno looks even better than before. He has all four butt flaps! Definitely a must grab, especially when he's the last S1 Beast Wars character I need.
TM2 megatron looks good, but I think I'll pass; I'm only interested in one iteration per character for my BW shelf, so at this point it's just Quickstrike, Silverbolt, Depth Charge, Rampage and maybe Dinobot II and Tigerhawk.
As mentioned, Bomb-burst looks really, really good. Especially for a core class figure!
Rumble and Bomb-burst aren't for preorder anywhere, so I just grabbed Ratchet, Dead End and Inferno. Gonna try to actually start cutting back a bit now that some life priorities have shifted.
Undead Scottsman on
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CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
My new doll sneakers arrived! One of them was not what I expected in a couple of ways.
The shoe with purple accents is much larger than my doll's feet, and is also aerated for some reason?
I ended up putting the blue ones on Sofia, I thought she could use some color. Sad I can't give her purple though. While I had her down off the shelf, I also gave her a climbing harness, and changed one of her hands to a fist so she could show off the guns.
When I put her back up, I tilted her slightly sideways because I noticed you can see the edge of the shelf from my work camera. Every time I take a new pic of the top shelf, it reminds me I need to do something about the ceiling. I hate popcorn ceilings.
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
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CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
Whelp. I wasn't planning on purchasing any more dolls this month, but Niko came back in stock so I bought one.
I would have preferred the human body over the faun body, or if I had to have the faun body I would have preferred the clear resin on the hooves and horns, but she's so cute I'll get over it. Honestly I'm just so pleased she showed up again.
Also before I saw that she was in stock, I went ahead and purchased a watercolor pencil set because my original set got lost in the move. I mean they're in a box somewhere, I just don't know which box, and I've been wanting to do some face drawing for months now (I have a Liara head all ready to start experimenting).
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
Hey, let's talk about Robots in Disguise for a second...
No, not the 2015 follow-up to Transformers Prime
..Also not the IDW comic book that ran from 2012 to 2015 until the aforementioned TV show was a thing and so the comic got renamed to just "The Transformers"
No, I'm talking about the 2001 series! Originally the Takara toyline "car robots" which features various G1, G2, Beast Wars and even original molds in a vaguely G1-esque "Bad guys want energy on earth, good guys are there to stop them, with earth vehicle modes". This was the first time since the ill-fated 1997 "Machine Wars" that we had gotten earth modes. I had fallen out of transformers at this point, as a wee 18 year old lad. Partially due to toys being for kids, but also because the Beast Wars stuff never really grabbed me (aside from the two combiners, I super wanted those). Then one day I'm being bored, scanning TV and I fucking see this:
Optimus Prime? With a pair of fucking missile batteries on his shoulders?!? This wound up getting me back into transformers until Energon made me lost interest. Robots in Disguise was a weird show, but not a bad one I discovered upon a recent rewatch. It just really suffered due to 9/11 really messing with it's air order and even causing a few crucial episodes to not be aired to due to depictions of buildings being destroyed.
One of the weird things it did was start the trend of black/grey/teal repaints of Optimus Prime. Usually called Nemesis Prime, but this first time around, he was Scourge! And he was fucking awesome.
Made from the Generation 2 Laser Optimus Prime mold, quite possibly the best Transformers toy when era is taken into account, Scourge is a thing of beauty, Shiny and Chrome. (Shit, why hasn't there been a Mad Max/Transformers crossover yet? What the shit!). Mine isn't so shiny, due to it's age, but he's a toy from the 90's basically, so he's still is crammed pack full of stuff.
He's just such a chonky boy, made from a design etho that's been dead for ages. He has an excellent, subdued evil color scheme and is just a solid figure. He lacks some modern articulation, but in G2 this mold was one of the best. Truly a GOAT toy, there. He comes with a sword and can wield the gun on the top of his tower.
The trailer is incredible. It has a disc launcher on top, and springs open when you flip a switch (mine is so old the switch doesn't latch properly anymore. Get used to "mine is so old" btw.) and unfurls into a ridiculously armed battle station. You've got that excellent disc launcher, articulated to reposition in the base, a five chamber "wave" missile launcher and even a air compressed mega missile. Sadly, mine is so old that not only is the hose permanently kinked, but it's basically decayed due to the type of plastic used and can no longer deliver enough air to even get the missile off of the launcher.
About the only thing Scourge doesn't have is electronics, which the original G2 Prime did, sadly. He could light up his sword and guns when they were in his fist. Still picking this stupidly armed 90's-ass Transformer for an evil Prime is an inspired idea, even down to his alt mode being an oil tanker. This is probably the best toy in my collection, though the signs of aging is starting to make me think it might be time to part ways with it while it's still worth selling.
Which brings me to the 2022 Velocitron 2000 Robots in Disguise Scourge, based on the Legacy G2 Optimus mold. He's.. alright. He has some damn big shoes to fill and I don't think he gets there, for reasons both understandable and bizarre.
He's a perfectly cromulent figure, good articulation, comes with a sword, axe and gun, as well as a matrix and some sculpted in shoulder mounted missile batteries to boot! There's just one big issue and you may have already spotted it. I'll get to that in a second, first I'll talk about the trailer.
His trailer battlestation is.. ouch. Victim of modern budgets and engineering priorities. Like, it's a weak trailer to begin with, but compared to the original, it's just kind of sad. The comparison gets worse in bot mode and brings into stark contrast the issue I brought up a second ago.
They fucked up his color scheme! He's the right colors, sure, but he's painted much more darkly instead of the cool subdued look he had before, plus the rampant translucent plastic makes the differences all the more glaring. I might actually track down a sticker set to see if I can cover up those chest windows. They're not even used on the truck! You can also see how much chonkier old Scourge is, like he's a toy designed to be bashed against other toys while the new one looks like something designed for a collector to put on his shelf. Also new Scourge is so tiny in vehicle mode now!
He looks better up against Transformers of his era though, here he is with Earthrise Prime
I honestly wasn't expecting him to ship for a few months, and was thinking of canceling, but I have him now so I'll see what Toyhax can do with him. I don't need him perfect, but man did they kind of miss the mark here.
Undead Scottsman on
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
Thank you for those comparisons, I've been wondering about getting the modern version of my RID Scourge... this helps me fight off that urge.
If it helps any, DNA Designs unveiled their repaint of their Laser Optimus prime upgrades, that add a decent amount of bulk to the figure and makes it much more unique.
Man I wish my RID Optimus's rubber tires hadn't split in half... or that I'd removed the batteries from my RID Ultra Magnus before they leaked and started eating a bit of the plastic.
They are among my oldest toys, and my first ones, so they have not been treated with the same love as some of the later ones. Plus, they are very finnicky, complicated molds with a lot of vacuformed metallic paint.
Just got an email about it today and it looks interesting. $60 though, oof.
If you are reading this add me.
D3: HexDex#1281, PSN: DireOtter, Live: DireOtter
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
edited August 2022
I've just come to the conclusion that I need to budget upgrade kits into any Hasbro purchase I make these days.
That is an impressive kit, and exactly what I was hoping for. A sword that doesn't suck, decent hands, bigger overall proportions...
The "gun" is laughable, but I give them credit for trying to spruce that up and not make it suck.
It's also cool that they got it all to integrate with the trailer and base modes - and even made the trailer not look as awkward with the legs sticking out. I guess that's one positive of the framework design of the original, not needing to wait to see what the other stunticons are like to upgrade things.
It's also a completely snap-on upgrade kit, from what I can tell.
In other OMG I want news:
NotOverload is looking GREAT next to Fans Hobby's Armada Prime. And now that I know they are doing the latter, darker color scheme for Prime.. I'm all around happy about this. It's a long ways off, but it'll be totally worth it.
Interesting how they changed up the connection point though! Before he used his "little" mini-con to connect the two trailers together, but that appears to be gone.
I only do upgrade kits for higher ticket items. Menasor would count, but I'm not sure I need all that extra stuff. Though making the original leftover bits into a giant ass canon is a stroke of brilliance. Still $60 is a HEFTY fee.
So I'm reboxing old figures out from the 15+ year old cardboard into some plastic bins, when I decide to pull out Transformers Armada Tidal wave and play with him a bit. Armada Tidal Wave was a cool toy because they eschewed electronics (a feature that his size-class typically had) in favor of being able to make him bigger.
He's starts off as multiple ships, each which has their own little features (His mini-con (a tiny transformer that can unlock stuff on bigger transformers), Ramjet can pop out of the aircraft carrier, the gunship has missile launchers and mini-con activated turrets, and the, uh, other thing can open up into a troop transport for other minicons.
features
You could combine them all into one big ship too.
And like I said, Tidal Wave is BIG. This was a $25 Transformer in 2002. Here he is with Core-class Megatron for scale.
The only problem with this toy is that he's not show accurate. In Japan, Tidal Wave was in fact named Shockwave and had straight purple color scheme, but because Hasbro was already releasing a ton of heavy purple toys in the same time, they decided to add a bunch of green to him. However, the anime was based on the Japanese toys, so he's purple in the cartoon, as his Japanese toy was remaining purple.
I bring this up because you remember when I said I pulled out Tidal Wave? Well I did, but not at first. I, in fact, pulled out a Legends of the Microns Shockwave.
Here's the kicker: I HAVE NO MEMORY OF BUYING THIS TOY! Like, it's absolutely something I could see myself having done, and I now have a vague recollection of making sure to keep their parts separate when I boxed them in the first place, but as for buying it? I have no damn clue. I don't give a damn if the aesthetic clashes, I'm sticking him on my Decepticon shelf at some point, because this is kind of a wild find for me.
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
I have Energon Tidal Wave and it is awesome. I also had armada Megs at some point but I gave it to a friend to compliment his Armada Tidal Wave.
...
I may be anxiously awaiting the OTHER thing Fans Hobby announced when they teased Armada NotOverload up there...
I loved the Armada mini-cons and they were great little desk toys. I had a bunch at one point, but I don't remember if I stored them away somewhere or gave them away with the larger bots when I moved.
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CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
I finally got my second shelf up! I have staged the part of the shelf that's near my computer desk so that it acts as a zoom backdrop:
Since Jane Shepard is my current favorite dollShep, she's the one who gets to hold the helmet. That helmet still needs some work, though. Especially a visor.
The rest of the team:
I kind of needed my actual bookshelf for books. But I lost the shelf pins that keep the shelves in place, so I ordered some from Rockler.
Here are both shelves as they currently stand. There's still a space in the middle because I plan to put my 1/3 scale vespa there:
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
I've raved before about just how cool I find the Cang Toys interpretations of the gestalts... and how I wanted the masterpiece scale versions, right?
Well.. hrm.
This is hitting all my buttons. Black, silver, red, transforming wolf...
The price tho...
I'm still hoping for the dinobots, but... this.. may make me go back and look at the predacons set.
This is some weird reverse uncanny valley kind of deal for me - those look TOO cool to be "real" transformers
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Forever Zefirocloaked in the midnight glory of an event horizonRegistered Userregular
I mean, they're third-party, so technically they're not real Transformers :P
But in my experience, those product shots often make the toys/figures look better than they actually are, which obviously is the job of any marketing
Not that these will be bad or anything, just that I feel like it's rare that any third-party figure I got 100% lived up to what I envisioned from the pics
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
Sure, but if I put those guys alongside Earthrise Optimus and Wheeljack, they're not gonna fit in at all is what I mean
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
Jesus...
I should NOT have watched the video from EmGo about the latest one (Kinglion). I was hoping against hope that they would be, like, subpar or flimsy. But nope. They are insanely detailed, insanely painted, insanely articulated... and it's a fucking kitty transformer. The only thing I have a weaker spot for is wolves.
And yet the older pieces are gonna be near impossible to get ahold of.... and yet. AND. YET.
CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
edited August 2022
Ya'lllllll my first ever resin doll arrived today. And my Smart Doll wigs and eyes fit her, so I won't have to buy those! She'll need better fitting clothes, though. And of course, I still need to paint her. I named her June.
I have her standing next to Isobel so you can get an idea of size. They call this a 1/4 scale doll, but really it's just child-sized/shaped, it fits in perfectly with the "world" of the 1/3 fashion dolls, I feel like. My new colored pencils haven't yet been delivered so I'm hesitant to start working on her (also it's unusually humid this week which will affect how my paints and pencils will adhere and how long it takes the sealant to dry, so I'm more inclined to wait for the weather to pass)
I'm also having a struggle over how to paint parts of her body. On Reddit I saw someone who did the hooves, horns, and tail by using RIT dye and dipping strategically to get an ombre pattern with two colors (black and red). It looked really good, but dye is permanent, so if you make a mistake you're kind of fucked. The traditional way to do body blushing is by brushing on soft pastels and then spraying the fixative over it. This can later be removed if you want or need to repaint - in fact you can just wipe it off during painting if you want a do-over, and then only spray the fixative when you're done.
Cambiata on
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
Thanks, I did my best to find something that flatters her! the problem is that skirt is so lose that it's barely staying on, so at minimum I have to find her some bottoms.
Edit: I gave her a belt but the skirt is still hanging off her hips. The shirt covers it though, so I guess I don't need to be in a hurry to buy more clothes. Also I am not totally sold on the horns, so I took them off for now.
Maybe once I've colored them in I'll feel differently.
Cambiata on
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
Bug to do stuff hit me late tonight. I decided that rather than spend a lot on a new action figure (FOR NOW), I was going to finally start repairs on my Archecore figure.
First attempt, tried to use two third hands that were not able to be locked into place very well.. but it held long enough.
Second one I did by hand, holding in the third hand and then using my tweezers to hold the other part until it stayed put. Probably needs more repair.
She looks good with and without the horns. I sort of like the oversized clothes since she fits the look of a non-human child trying to fit in a human world. That is why she looks cute in that outfit. I'm sure you'll eventually buy her clothes that fits, but she looks adorable next to Isobel like an adopted daughter.
She looks good with and without the horns. I sort of like the oversized clothes since she fits the look of a non-human child trying to fit in a human world. That is why she looks cute in that outfit. I'm sure you'll eventually buy her clothes that fits, but she looks adorable next to Isobel like an adopted daughter.
Ooooh, I like this concept. I didn't even think of Isobel adopting June, I just brought Isobel down for scale. And the oversized clothes "trying to fit in" is also a lot more adorable in that context.
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
Just FYI but that is 100% for sure the chinese knock-offs of the 1/72 Arcadia VF-1X figures, which where themselves a retooling of the 1/72 Yamato figures that came out in 2001. I own both the Yamato figure (which is a parts former for the legs) and the 1/72 KO (which uses NO die cast parts). The Arcadia and KO figures are also technically partsformers because they include gap fillers for behind the head and under the armpits. The transformation is fantastic on them, but some of the parts like the landing gear hatches really suffer from tolerance issues.
The one thing that the Yamato figure does that you'll never see in a "perfect" transformation version is that it has a waist swivel.
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
I think I'm okay with that, as I said. The figure has lights, which is kickass on its own, but also there are references on other VF-1A / 1S pages from the company that show off the transformation. It's got a hell of a hollow torso, but I like the size/scale.
I should NOT have watched the video from EmGo about the latest one (Kinglion). I was hoping against hope that they would be, like, subpar or flimsy. But nope. They are insanely detailed, insanely painted, insanely articulated... and it's a fucking kitty transformer. The only thing I have a weaker spot for is wolves.
And yet the older pieces are gonna be near impossible to get ahold of.... and yet. AND. YET.
Bombusbee (a very reliable Chinese e-tailer, I've bought from them a bunch; just note the shipping price, it's relatively hefty) has bots 02, 03, and 04 (and of course 05 ain't out yet). I can't find 01 for sale anywhere, but I feel quite confident he'll get reissued at some point. I'd say it's pretty safe to go in on the set. https://www.bombusbee.net/c/cang-toys-0624
Oh wait, Robo Toy Base (an extremely venerable and well-established Hong Kong-based vendor that seems to have a warehouse of infinite size, they often have lots of old stuff) seemingly has 01: https://robotoybase.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=6174&search=cang+toys
Note that their "In Stock" indicator is... only somewhat reliable. You might want to email them to double-check, if you're interested. You will pay an arm and a leg for shipping, but I've resorted to it a few times when looking for very old, out-of-stock-everywhere-else toys.
Yeah. If I get burned, I get burned. But it's worth the risk.
They are legit. Kitzconcept started out as a 3P company then Harmony Gold discovered them and made them legit with their licensing. Their Valkyries are eh ok from what I read. Some people like them and others say it has their flaws (even the newer design). The design borrows some engineering from Bandai's DX line and Arcadia's (Yamato's) as well.
I'm on the fence preordering one since I don't want to get a dud, plus the price is nearly a Bandai DX Valkyrie. I do have to give Harmony Gold credit for trolling Hasbro with this design.
I'm curious, did you opt for the faster shipping or the "it might get there in a year" shipping? Also did you have to make an account to pre-order one? Man, I guess I need to decide quick if all the Transformers sites are posting about this figure.
AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
I went for the extra $30 for "Don't sit in limbo" shipping. And yes, I threw together an account incredibly quick. Payment was paypal for the deposit only + shipping.
I should NOT have watched the video from EmGo about the latest one (Kinglion). I was hoping against hope that they would be, like, subpar or flimsy. But nope. They are insanely detailed, insanely painted, insanely articulated... and it's a fucking kitty transformer. The only thing I have a weaker spot for is wolves.
And yet the older pieces are gonna be near impossible to get ahold of.... and yet. AND. YET.
Bombusbee (a very reliable Chinese e-tailer, I've bought from them a bunch; just note the shipping price, it's relatively hefty) has bots 02, 03, and 04 (and of course 05 ain't out yet). I can't find 01 for sale anywhere, but I feel quite confident he'll get reissued at some point. I'd say it's pretty safe to go in on the set. https://www.bombusbee.net/c/cang-toys-0624
Oh wait, Robo Toy Base (an extremely venerable and well-established Hong Kong-based vendor that seems to have a warehouse of infinite size, they often have lots of old stuff) seemingly has 01: https://robotoybase.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=6174&search=cang+toys
Note that their "In Stock" indicator is... only somewhat reliable. You might want to email them to double-check, if you're interested. You will pay an arm and a leg for shipping, but I've resorted to it a few times when looking for very old, out-of-stock-everywhere-else toys.
Well if you want to avoid creating a new account (and any other hassles). BBTS has the not-Jetfire toy on sale. You pay a bit more (and a non-refundable deposit), $259.99.
Posts
https://news.tfw2005.com/2022/08/16/new-transformers-official-reveal-pics-for-august-2022-pre-orders-live-463619
Steam: betsuni7
Core Wheelie looks good enough, but I don't really care about the character so I'm passing (I don't hate the character like a lot of the fandom, but I don't need him for my shelf)
Blue Rumble is a pair of elbows away from being perfect, sadly. I'll still get him due to the pile drivers. He's apparently bigger than the WfC mold, but still fits into Soundwave, so that's cool.
I'm already in on 3/5 Stunticons, so Dead End is a no brainer. He looks fine. Menasar is looking pretty sharp.
Skullgrin looks like a core class figure they decided to do with deluxe class engineering, but they didn't bother to fix any of the core class compromises, so he has a brick of a vehicle mode (which doesn't even look that much like his G1 form) and I could have used some more pretender decoration on his robot mode. Think I'll pass on him even though I think Igaunus and Bomburst look great. If he was core class I'd probably bite the bullet.
Inferno looks even better than before. He has all four butt flaps! Definitely a must grab, especially when he's the last S1 Beast Wars character I need.
TM2 megatron looks good, but I think I'll pass; I'm only interested in one iteration per character for my BW shelf, so at this point it's just Quickstrike, Silverbolt, Depth Charge, Rampage and maybe Dinobot II and Tigerhawk.
As mentioned, Bomb-burst looks really, really good. Especially for a core class figure!
Rumble and Bomb-burst aren't for preorder anywhere, so I just grabbed Ratchet, Dead End and Inferno. Gonna try to actually start cutting back a bit now that some life priorities have shifted.
The shoe with purple accents is much larger than my doll's feet, and is also aerated for some reason?
I ended up putting the blue ones on Sofia, I thought she could use some color. Sad I can't give her purple though. While I had her down off the shelf, I also gave her a climbing harness, and changed one of her hands to a fist so she could show off the guns.
When I put her back up, I tilted her slightly sideways because I noticed you can see the edge of the shelf from my work camera. Every time I take a new pic of the top shelf, it reminds me I need to do something about the ceiling. I hate popcorn ceilings.
I would have preferred the human body over the faun body, or if I had to have the faun body I would have preferred the clear resin on the hooves and horns, but she's so cute I'll get over it. Honestly I'm just so pleased she showed up again.
Also before I saw that she was in stock, I went ahead and purchased a watercolor pencil set because my original set got lost in the move. I mean they're in a box somewhere, I just don't know which box, and I've been wanting to do some face drawing for months now (I have a Liara head all ready to start experimenting).
No, not the 2015 follow-up to Transformers Prime
..Also not the IDW comic book that ran from 2012 to 2015 until the aforementioned TV show was a thing and so the comic got renamed to just "The Transformers"
No, I'm talking about the 2001 series! Originally the Takara toyline "car robots" which features various G1, G2, Beast Wars and even original molds in a vaguely G1-esque "Bad guys want energy on earth, good guys are there to stop them, with earth vehicle modes". This was the first time since the ill-fated 1997 "Machine Wars" that we had gotten earth modes. I had fallen out of transformers at this point, as a wee 18 year old lad. Partially due to toys being for kids, but also because the Beast Wars stuff never really grabbed me (aside from the two combiners, I super wanted those). Then one day I'm being bored, scanning TV and I fucking see this:
Optimus Prime? With a pair of fucking missile batteries on his shoulders?!? This wound up getting me back into transformers until Energon made me lost interest. Robots in Disguise was a weird show, but not a bad one I discovered upon a recent rewatch. It just really suffered due to 9/11 really messing with it's air order and even causing a few crucial episodes to not be aired to due to depictions of buildings being destroyed.
One of the weird things it did was start the trend of black/grey/teal repaints of Optimus Prime. Usually called Nemesis Prime, but this first time around, he was Scourge! And he was fucking awesome.
Made from the Generation 2 Laser Optimus Prime mold, quite possibly the best Transformers toy when era is taken into account, Scourge is a thing of beauty, Shiny and Chrome. (Shit, why hasn't there been a Mad Max/Transformers crossover yet? What the shit!). Mine isn't so shiny, due to it's age, but he's a toy from the 90's basically, so he's still is crammed pack full of stuff.
He's just such a chonky boy, made from a design etho that's been dead for ages. He has an excellent, subdued evil color scheme and is just a solid figure. He lacks some modern articulation, but in G2 this mold was one of the best. Truly a GOAT toy, there. He comes with a sword and can wield the gun on the top of his tower.
The trailer is incredible. It has a disc launcher on top, and springs open when you flip a switch (mine is so old the switch doesn't latch properly anymore. Get used to "mine is so old" btw.) and unfurls into a ridiculously armed battle station. You've got that excellent disc launcher, articulated to reposition in the base, a five chamber "wave" missile launcher and even a air compressed mega missile. Sadly, mine is so old that not only is the hose permanently kinked, but it's basically decayed due to the type of plastic used and can no longer deliver enough air to even get the missile off of the launcher.
About the only thing Scourge doesn't have is electronics, which the original G2 Prime did, sadly. He could light up his sword and guns when they were in his fist. Still picking this stupidly armed 90's-ass Transformer for an evil Prime is an inspired idea, even down to his alt mode being an oil tanker. This is probably the best toy in my collection, though the signs of aging is starting to make me think it might be time to part ways with it while it's still worth selling.
Which brings me to the 2022 Velocitron 2000 Robots in Disguise Scourge, based on the Legacy G2 Optimus mold. He's.. alright. He has some damn big shoes to fill and I don't think he gets there, for reasons both understandable and bizarre.
He's a perfectly cromulent figure, good articulation, comes with a sword, axe and gun, as well as a matrix and some sculpted in shoulder mounted missile batteries to boot! There's just one big issue and you may have already spotted it. I'll get to that in a second, first I'll talk about the trailer.
His trailer battlestation is.. ouch. Victim of modern budgets and engineering priorities. Like, it's a weak trailer to begin with, but compared to the original, it's just kind of sad. The comparison gets worse in bot mode and brings into stark contrast the issue I brought up a second ago.
They fucked up his color scheme! He's the right colors, sure, but he's painted much more darkly instead of the cool subdued look he had before, plus the rampant translucent plastic makes the differences all the more glaring. I might actually track down a sticker set to see if I can cover up those chest windows. They're not even used on the truck! You can also see how much chonkier old Scourge is, like he's a toy designed to be bashed against other toys while the new one looks like something designed for a collector to put on his shelf. Also new Scourge is so tiny in vehicle mode now!
He looks better up against Transformers of his era though, here he is with Earthrise Prime
I honestly wasn't expecting him to ship for a few months, and was thinking of canceling, but I have him now so I'll see what Toyhax can do with him. I don't need him perfect, but man did they kind of miss the mark here.
If it helps any, DNA Designs unveiled their repaint of their Laser Optimus prime upgrades, that add a decent amount of bulk to the figure and makes it much more unique.
https://news.tfw2005.com/2022/08/16/dna-design-dk-37b-legacy-laser-optimus-prime-upgrade-kit-463405
Man I wish my RID Optimus's rubber tires hadn't split in half... or that I'd removed the batteries from my RID Ultra Magnus before they leaked and started eating a bit of the plastic.
They are among my oldest toys, and my first ones, so they have not been treated with the same love as some of the later ones. Plus, they are very finnicky, complicated molds with a lot of vacuformed metallic paint.
I don’t think they ever made the trailer though
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/216445
Just got an email about it today and it looks interesting. $60 though, oof.
D3: HexDex#1281, PSN: DireOtter, Live: DireOtter
That is an impressive kit, and exactly what I was hoping for. A sword that doesn't suck, decent hands, bigger overall proportions...
The "gun" is laughable, but I give them credit for trying to spruce that up and not make it suck.
It's also cool that they got it all to integrate with the trailer and base modes - and even made the trailer not look as awkward with the legs sticking out. I guess that's one positive of the framework design of the original, not needing to wait to see what the other stunticons are like to upgrade things.
It's also a completely snap-on upgrade kit, from what I can tell.
In other OMG I want news:
NotOverload is looking GREAT next to Fans Hobby's Armada Prime. And now that I know they are doing the latter, darker color scheme for Prime.. I'm all around happy about this. It's a long ways off, but it'll be totally worth it.
Interesting how they changed up the connection point though! Before he used his "little" mini-con to connect the two trailers together, but that appears to be gone.
Edit: And there's the shot I've been waiting for.
Steam: betsuni7
He's starts off as multiple ships, each which has their own little features (His mini-con (a tiny transformer that can unlock stuff on bigger transformers), Ramjet can pop out of the aircraft carrier, the gunship has missile launchers and mini-con activated turrets, and the, uh, other thing can open up into a troop transport for other minicons.
features
You could combine them all into one big ship too.
And like I said, Tidal Wave is BIG. This was a $25 Transformer in 2002. Here he is with Core-class Megatron for scale.
The only problem with this toy is that he's not show accurate. In Japan, Tidal Wave was in fact named Shockwave and had straight purple color scheme, but because Hasbro was already releasing a ton of heavy purple toys in the same time, they decided to add a bunch of green to him. However, the anime was based on the Japanese toys, so he's purple in the cartoon, as his Japanese toy was remaining purple.
I bring this up because you remember when I said I pulled out Tidal Wave? Well I did, but not at first. I, in fact, pulled out a Legends of the Microns Shockwave.
Here's the kicker: I HAVE NO MEMORY OF BUYING THIS TOY! Like, it's absolutely something I could see myself having done, and I now have a vague recollection of making sure to keep their parts separate when I boxed them in the first place, but as for buying it? I have no damn clue. I don't give a damn if the aesthetic clashes, I'm sticking him on my Decepticon shelf at some point, because this is kind of a wild find for me.
...
I may be anxiously awaiting the OTHER thing Fans Hobby announced when they teased Armada NotOverload up there...
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
Since Jane Shepard is my current favorite dollShep, she's the one who gets to hold the helmet. That helmet still needs some work, though. Especially a visor.
The rest of the team:
I kind of needed my actual bookshelf for books. But I lost the shelf pins that keep the shelves in place, so I ordered some from Rockler.
Here are both shelves as they currently stand. There's still a space in the middle because I plan to put my 1/3 scale vespa there:
Well.. hrm.
This is hitting all my buttons. Black, silver, red, transforming wolf...
The price tho...
I'm still hoping for the dinobots, but... this.. may make me go back and look at the predacons set.
https://tfsource.com/3rd-party-figures/cy05-thorilla-and-cy08-rusirius-cang-toys/
But in my experience, those product shots often make the toys/figures look better than they actually are, which obviously is the job of any marketing
Not that these will be bad or anything, just that I feel like it's rare that any third-party figure I got 100% lived up to what I envisioned from the pics
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
I should NOT have watched the video from EmGo about the latest one (Kinglion). I was hoping against hope that they would be, like, subpar or flimsy. But nope. They are insanely detailed, insanely painted, insanely articulated... and it's a fucking kitty transformer. The only thing I have a weaker spot for is wolves.
And yet the older pieces are gonna be near impossible to get ahold of.... and yet. AND. YET.
I have her standing next to Isobel so you can get an idea of size. They call this a 1/4 scale doll, but really it's just child-sized/shaped, it fits in perfectly with the "world" of the 1/3 fashion dolls, I feel like. My new colored pencils haven't yet been delivered so I'm hesitant to start working on her (also it's unusually humid this week which will affect how my paints and pencils will adhere and how long it takes the sealant to dry, so I'm more inclined to wait for the weather to pass)
I'm also having a struggle over how to paint parts of her body. On Reddit I saw someone who did the hooves, horns, and tail by using RIT dye and dipping strategically to get an ombre pattern with two colors (black and red). It looked really good, but dye is permanent, so if you make a mistake you're kind of fucked. The traditional way to do body blushing is by brushing on soft pastels and then spraying the fixative over it. This can later be removed if you want or need to repaint - in fact you can just wipe it off during painting if you want a do-over, and then only spray the fixative when you're done.
Steam: betsuni7
Thanks, I did my best to find something that flatters her! the problem is that skirt is so lose that it's barely staying on, so at minimum I have to find her some bottoms.
Edit: I gave her a belt but the skirt is still hanging off her hips. The shirt covers it though, so I guess I don't need to be in a hurry to buy more clothes. Also I am not totally sold on the horns, so I took them off for now.
Maybe once I've colored them in I'll feel differently.
First attempt, tried to use two third hands that were not able to be locked into place very well.. but it held long enough.
Second one I did by hand, holding in the third hand and then using my tweezers to hold the other part until it stayed put. Probably needs more repair.
Steam: betsuni7
Ooooh, I like this concept. I didn't even think of Isobel adopting June, I just brought Isobel down for scale. And the oversized clothes "trying to fit in" is also a lot more adorable in that context.
https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/new-macross-valkyrie-figure-in-jetfire-deco-revealed/47180/
Only 500 available outside of Asia.
Jetfire deco on a Macross Valkyrie.
1/72 scale.
Yeah. If I get burned, I get burned. But it's worth the risk.
The one thing that the Yamato figure does that you'll never see in a "perfect" transformation version is that it has a waist swivel.
https://fb.watch/aGmseA8Mdq/
https://www.bombusbee.net/c/cang-toys-0624
Oh wait, Robo Toy Base (an extremely venerable and well-established Hong Kong-based vendor that seems to have a warehouse of infinite size, they often have lots of old stuff) seemingly has 01:
https://robotoybase.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=6174&search=cang+toys
Note that their "In Stock" indicator is... only somewhat reliable. You might want to email them to double-check, if you're interested. You will pay an arm and a leg for shipping, but I've resorted to it a few times when looking for very old, out-of-stock-everywhere-else toys.
They are legit. Kitzconcept started out as a 3P company then Harmony Gold discovered them and made them legit with their licensing. Their Valkyries are eh ok from what I read. Some people like them and others say it has their flaws (even the newer design). The design borrows some engineering from Bandai's DX line and Arcadia's (Yamato's) as well.
I'm on the fence preordering one since I don't want to get a dud, plus the price is nearly a Bandai DX Valkyrie. I do have to give Harmony Gold credit for trolling Hasbro with this design.
I'm curious, did you opt for the faster shipping or the "it might get there in a year" shipping? Also did you have to make an account to pre-order one? Man, I guess I need to decide quick if all the Transformers sites are posting about this figure.
Steam: betsuni7
https://www.thechosenprime.com/cang-toys
They have 01 in stock, and 02 for a bit cheaper than Bombusbee. The lion/wolf combo is waaaaaay cheaper on Bombusbee and ShowZ (https://showzstore.com/cang-toys-ct-chiyou-04-razorclaw-predaking-combiner_p3131.html).
OK, I'm done spending your money (for now).
https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/217476
Steam: betsuni7
I'm curious to see how many KC sells since their other "limited" runs are still available.
Steam: betsuni7
Well whatever they ordered they sold out already. Guess I shouldn't have Wembled.
Edit: As well as KC's own website. Wow.
Steam: betsuni7
HI-METAL R VF-1S Super Valkyrie (Hikaru Ichijyou's Custom)
Let me know if you find a site still taking preorders
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL