Counting 'em down again! One more time :)

[PrimeCron]

I am wondering where this is going!!

[wervenom]

Originally Posted by PrimeCron

I am wondering where this is going!!

Not where you think

[Nostalgic]

Carnage alt mode looks stunning

[wervenom]

December 12

Introducing on the blue background hailing from Transformmission brought to me by way of eBay, at a weight of 505 grams, the loudmouth braggart of the Stunticon forces

Transformmission Revolt (aka Stunticon Dragstrip)

When I first saw the concept images and then further saw the name it was very appropriate IMO. The “wings” over the shoulders were truly revolting but that is more the “I like the G1 look and what they hell were they thinking” type of attitude. I knew I was going all in on the set so I’d have to live with it but was hoping for a change. That didn’t happen so I watched some reviews before I had mine in hand and still wasn’t fussy about them but wasn’t as turned off. Having him in hand now I have completely changed my mind about them. His transformation is a little more involved than Carnage but holds together much better and poses like a champ. Alt mode is great, bot mode is fantastic and even if you didn’t go in on the set I would recommend him on his own as a standalone figure.

[wervenom]

December 13

Introducing out of the red background, hailing from Takara brought to me by way of Madhaus Toys, weighing in at 505 grams, one of three Autobots I have no quip for

Transformers GO! G02 Jinbu

A while back I began hunting for more TF Prime Predacons with little success when I recalled that I bought a Takara repaint of Ripclaw. Turns out it wasn’t a repaint so much as a new character with different head, Bakudora I believe. When I started looking into the whole Takara Predacon set I learned that not only had they done renames but there was a whole spin off of TF Prime Beast Hunters called TF GO! I haven’t watched more than two episodes so far and it seems strange but I’ll get through it. I then discovered they had their own unique Autobots in the form of two combiners and I just happen to grab the first set of them. Now for Jinbu when I took him out of the package I wasn’t overly impressed but not really disappointed either, he’s just kinda meh. As I tried to pose him a ZZ Top song came in to my head. Legs! I know he is part of a 3 bot combiner but holy crap his legs go all the way to his shoulders. Given the obvious fist hidden in his foot they will be the arms for his particular combination (there are 3 total) Takara could have at least tried to hide the length. I mean jeez, try something, I mean anything. From certain angles it just looks god awful and I won’t be displaying him and his brethren in combined mode so not sure what I’m going to do yet. His actual arms are really skinny and small so getting a two handed sword pose isn’t easy but given the price point and engineering I can’t say it much worse than most Hasbro items. Optimus Maximus comes to mind so at least Jinbu is better than that. I may have better thoughts when his bros are open but we will have to wait and see.

[wervenom]

December 13 Bonus

Introducing out of the blue background, hailing from Hasbro brought to me by way of TF Con 2017, weighing in at 525 grams, one of the sneakiest Autobots around...

Universe Treadbolt

I picked him up and put him down. Picked him up again and put him down again. Seen it and walked away only to see it again. I have seen this figure at the last 10 shows at a minimum from different vendors and have always been tempted to buy it but never did. I have had Jetfire in this version twice, once before the Thrilling 30 one and once after as I decided to use it for a WFC/FOC version of him but after a while decided that was not where I wanted to go collection wise so I sold it. So the question is why buy a repaint? Simple it was $10 MISB and it’s a great mold. I couldn’t decide where I wanted him displayed until after I had opened him and taken pictures. For some odd reason he reminded me of a Zone character and I don’t have many of those but making a few of my own such as Star Convoy (OK a bit past zone but close enough) so he will go there. Nice to have the mold again and this time he stays.

[wervenom]

December 14

Introducing on the black background hailing from Fans Toys brought to me by way of Madhaus Toys, at a weight of 575 grams, the transformer that time didn’t forget but he probably did, Grimlock’s story telling buddy, the crazy old…

Fans Toys FT-22 Koot

If you buy this guy and want to transform him then I have some advice. Have a lot of patience, one stiff drink and a letter opener. I had the first and the last but didn’t have the middle one and will probably need it now. Hmm I wonder what’s upstairs? Hold on I’ll be right back. Alrighty then one rum and coke and I’m good to go. So out of the package he has some heft to him. Die cast in the legs and the chest, has a backpack but it’s not as bad as I have heard some people say. I find both the elbow and shoulder ratchets a little strange but liveable. Good overall interpretation of Kup I will say that. His Targetmaster, I can’t recall the name has some half decent articulation himself but he reminds me of Nightstick a great deal. I did apply a label to the chest of Koot’ bot mode and then carefully sliced in half to properly separate the chest. Looks ok but before he went to bed my son said he could see the cut line but oh well. For all the alternate pieces he comes with I’m not even going to bother with those. As I have said many times I’m not the comic book guy anymore so his “cygar” is really lost on me. Now for the fun part, the transformation. Holy crap I personally believe that whoever designed this guy was drinking a much stronger rum than I was and probably in the same quantity as Captain Jack Sparrow, asked why the rum was all gone and went for more. I mean damn, that is by far, the finickiest transformation I have run into since ROTF Leader Prime. Someone from X-Transbots must have snuck in there because there are some clearance issues. Now the reason why I suggest the letter opener is for the wheels. Regardless if you are going to robot mode or to alt mode you have to slide the wheels either up or down and it is a tough mechanism to slide without some help that is for damn sure. I didn’t find the overall transformation difficult just a pain in the you know what. The way everything has to tab together is unusual and the people writing the instructions were definitely drunk. In the end I like the figure, didn’t enjoy the transformation but I would rather do that than EVER transform Crash Hog again because that is a genuine PITA, big time. One thing I would add is that with all these companies doing Targetmasters, I would hope or wish that they were closer in size. X-Transbots Fracas measures up well to, oh crap hold on. Recoil that was his name. OK so Recoil and Fracas scale well together but when you bring in Unique Toy’s take on Haywire he is so short by comparison. I think he might be the same height as Hasbro’s Nightstick. Either way great looking figure, very well done in each mode, it’s just the journey to get there that requires a good drink

[wervenom]

December 15

Introducing on the blue background hailing from Takara brought to me by way of Madhaus Toys, at a weight of 577 grams, the second member of a group I’m at a loss of words for

TF GO! G03 - Ganoh

The ZZ Top song still comes to mind but at least they are better hidden or at least a little less noticeable. He’s big, better proportioned than Jinbu and suffers with similar articulation unfortunately. The weapons on these guys really bug me. It is that very soft rubbery plastic and the lack of articulation doesn’t give way to any really dynamic poses. My first group of shots were done on yellow which I forgot to change over to blue which is a good thing since I had taken him out and stared with shots right away only to realize later I had used his combined mode feet for his bot mode instead of his regular feet so I switched to the blue he was supposed to be on but decided on only 1 bot shot instead of the 3 I first had. It’s not that I wouldn’t want to show him off but there isn’t much to show off to be honest. I did want more TF Prime Autobots so this helps but he is so much bigger than I thought I’m hoping I can re-arrange when the time comes and be able to fit him.

[wervenom]

December 16

Introducing on the blue background hailing from Transformmission brought to me by way of Madhaus Toys, at a weight of 590 grams, the prettiest pessimistic Porsche transformer that ever was

Transformmission Over Turn (aka Stunticon Dead End)

The last member I purchased but not the last to be messed with, Over Turn has a good updated car mode and decent looking bot mode. For that car I could have lived without the yellow striping and for bot mode I wish the “sideways” knees were a bit tighter but other than that my favourite pessimist has gotten the MP style treatment. I don’t know what Porsche he is but not being a fan I’m not really worried about it as he looks good. Articulation on any of these guys isn’t much higher than any other figure you may get but any are superior to the Carnage mold. Now as for the Disorder figure I got him a long time ago so don’t expect him to show up here. He won’t and being a Ferrari I wold have bought him on his own regardless. It was after Disorder that I decided not to touch another until I had all five members so I could combine them once they were in hand. All I can say is at some point we will get there.

[wervenom]

December 16 Bonus – TF GO! Kenzan

Introducing on the yellow background hailing from Takara brought to me by way of Madhaus Toys, at a weight of 649 grams, the third member of the Sorbet Samurai Team

TF GO! G03 Kenzan

So last member of the team and smaller than Ganoh but somehow heavier which I found strange until I opened him up. Kenzan is supposed to be the leader and houses all the electronics so at least that explains that. One thing I would definitely say that if there was ever a team of bots the really needed a Reprolabels set, this would be that team. Another thing that I would say is Takara took scale and threw that right out the window because these guys’ alt modes are SO out of whack. That aside from the limited articulation I really like this guy’s alt mode. Or I should say the look of it but even it has faults. They really should have found a way to make sure the front of the car tabs together. The paint apps on the wheels and details for the rotors and brake pads look really nice. When going to bot mode the long leg syndrome appears but like Ganoh, he hides it better the Jinbu. I also made a mistake the other day when I put Jinbu in bot mode is that apparently the front landing gear is supposed to tab into the legs and didn’t realize that until I looked at the instructions for combined mode which I will get into later. He takes 3 “AAA” batteries and will make different sounds, music and phrases depending on which mode his is in. Rest of bot mode is OK but he also has really tiny feet/toes but let’s see what happens in combined mode.