I just transformed...

[evenstaves]

SS core Mohawk, I love this lil guy, the articulated opening jaw and the lil pigsticker are lots of fun - but man oh man, is that alt mode just a bunch of limbs wrapped around a bike, lol
Ah well, I still love that this guy exists, even if i don't particularly care for bayformers

Also had to move some figs around, transformed a number back to alt modes (G2 "sunset" Sideswipe, Evo Twincast, Evo Axelgrease, Evo Skyquake, Evo Devcon, Selects GalacticMan)
The first time I transformed the Skyquake mold back to its alt mode, man those wing hinges are just encouraged to bend around everything on this guy (eek)

[CyberDragon10K]

SS-102 Optimus Prime.

If not for the aggressive bull bars I'd chock him up as the better Knightverse Prime, but between that and the sheer amount of gobbledygook sitting behind the cab it leaves me sour on his alt. mode. Add-on kits prefer to ignore the issue entirely and just leave his shins be. I guess that's one way to go about it.

I'd like the DNA shoulders just so he won't box his ears any time I need him to T-pose, but I question the necessity of the metric tonne of other stuff padding out the price tag.

[evenstaves]

G1 retro reissue "The Movie" deco Perceptor, chanced upon this guy @ TreasureHunt so picked him up for 25 bucks - this copy is definitely used, he's loose out of the zip ties and one of the missiles is punched out of the sprue, loose in the box but looking like someone had it in the gun and then hauled it out (stressing plastic all around the nub) - but I never had a G1 Percy, so I figured good opportunity to check out the mold
Right off the bat, damn do those legs ever give him some slight articulation for a G1, but it's so weird that they can't bend forward/backward at the hip? You can kinda angle them outwards, pivot the hip swivels & bend the knees slightly, to give him a bit of an action stance, pretty cool
idk if the original suffers this, but my copy, his red gun will absolutely not stay pegged into his fist, it's barely gripping anything at all and kinda just sitting there (if you tip him sideways, it falls right out)
Do his hands not connect to the microscope platform, in alt mode? Or does it just "hover" up there - I guess I could read the instructions, but GEEZ
Speaking of that microscope, boy does it ever just fall off the (front & back ports) on a whim
Did the G1 have (any) diecast? This guy feels like he should have been heavier

Also, last night I did some quick conversions on SS86 voyager Ratchet & BWBB Autotrooper - nothing to write home about other than with 86 Ratchet, noticed the mushroom pegs connecting his legs to the pelvis, looks like they have a tendency to slide along/off the connection, causing some issues when attempting to tab all the vehicle panels together; I'll have to keep an eye on that
Also noticed my Ratchet's two rooftop ambulance lightbars, were missing - found em on the floor from where he was posed - must have popped off couple weeks back when I lobbed my (otterboxed) cell phone across the living room to the couch (which normally works just fine, landing on the soft cushions - but in that instance I overshot and it flew right into the tableside display, EEEEEEK)

[evenstaves]

So I finally, FINALLY opened up the Haslab Deathsaurus this weekend (late to the party, I know), and OH MY GOD, what an amazing turn-around from the disastrous VictorySaber fiasco!
Arguably I imagine it was easier for them to pull off this time around cause DZ doesn't have to do nearly as much, but it's so much more than that - the packaging is simplified, but has protective plastic clamshells all over the chrome parts, keeping the zip ties away from potential scratch areas - the breastmaster partners are both larger than I thought, and for all the "tiny" looking articulated parts on both of em, they're all large enough (and or made of appropriate material, like Eaglebreast's guns/legs) that I haven't seen any stressing on multiple transformations, impressive - I had to REALLY search to even find a scratch anywhere (up inside under DZ's helmet-beak/visor, where most wouldn't normally see anyways), honestly a mountain of difference from all VSaber's scratch damage they initially presented him with
Not to mention he's HUGE, impressive - probably the most trouble I had was finnicking his LMDCannon into space-chicken's shoulder port (slight edge sticking out from panel alignment - but it's a testament to how well this thing is put together, that I felt no hesitation in really cramming it in there, eventually did (and afterwards pop out, no visible stressing anywhere)
The micro dudes are also pretty damned nigh-perfect - certainly nothing I'd be motivated to replace
There's maybe a few painted spots where I'd be hesitant to rough him around too much (soles of chicken feet; is all boat dude's blue painted? etc); the worst thing I've seen is I gotta be careful not to grub up Tigerbreast's beautiful gold chrome with my damn fingerprints, lol

But oh my god this thing is gorgeous - best Haslab yet, for my money

[evenstaves]

Universal TF collab "Frankentron", I mean yeah it's the Siege Impactor mold, so it's pretty good - minor nitpicks, the lower-leg "slabs" seemed to have a rough time pivoting around during transformation, I don't remember that - his new head is maybe a bit smaller than I thought it'd be? Also those molded-sideways hands are honestly pretty annoying, gives the posing an unnatural feel (maybe the point?)
Worst thing for me is, his lightning-rod accessory has like 5-6 5mm pegs, but ALL of them are painted! I don't want to scratch the nice paint, so I'm sticking with the accessory's unpainted ports - only, the figure has WAY more ports than pegs (thanks, C.O.M.B.A.T. system), so stuck using the pegs on his forearms, ONLY

[VicRav]

Deadeye duel 2 pack - Javelin and Kaskade. Picked it up on a mild sale. I kind of like the mold for Kaskade more than I did for Chromia and Nightbird. It seemed to tab together better than I remember. Not sure if it came out of the mold better or maybe I am just transforming it better. Javelin is good, I don't have the mold from the Bumblebee movie, however it actually seems pretty similar to Kaskade in some ways.

Earthrise Runabout. I am finally finishing my Toyhax additions to this guy. I don't mind the transformation itself, but tabbing it together in vehicle mode is still not great, and not too clean. At least the black hides it a little. At some point I will be adding the Toyhax set to Runamuck.

[Skorpulator]

XTB Runamuck. Pretty fun and the end result (robot mode) is really nice.

[evenstaves]

no new figs, but transformed a couple of figs to put away

Evo ArmadaOP, changed to truck mode
Looks like those (inner bot leg panels/larger bot forearm covers) don't have any stress marks yet, though tbf I WAS transforming him in dim light
Also man is his big cannon supposed to go in that front cavity of the trailer, sticking out the front over the cab? Seems like it should (POTP leader OP style), but tolerances are just cram-packed enough to make me think that I'm blowing it, somehow

Troop builder Autotrooper, just a quick flip, man I can't wait to pick up my 2nd copy of the set so I can have two of these guys, different head each - also I need more copies of his f*ck-off hammer cannon weapon; my favourite version this mold is the Netflix DeeseusDrone, simply because I grabbed two of em on clearance and gave one both weapons, nice shoulder-mounted double ordnance - I want to fully Front Mission 1 loadout this guy (both shoulders, one in each hand, etc)

[optimusb39]

Moon studio raidon. Found for 500 even complete set..spent the last two days slowly transforming each one. Finally did the combined mode this morning. Worth it!! He's huge and impressive.

[CyberDragon10K]

Year of the Dragon 2024 Crimson Flame

Was a while ago, but he is the most recent one I've mucked around with. Not the biggest fan of movie figures, but this makes for the second movie-adjacent mold I've gotten my hands on (the first being the original Evasion Optimus). Tolerances felt right, and I can't imagine Steelbane being worse/floppy knowing how Crimson Flame worked out. He's solid in both modes, even if some posing/joints aren't around because of the engineering of the time.

I do love that fully custom repaint someone on TFW2005 did of their Crimson Flame though.