December 23
Introducing on the blue background hailing from Transformmission brought to me by way of Madhaus Toys at TF Con 2017, at a stunning weight of 2000 grams, the original nemesis to the Prime, the beast in black, the new “king” of the road, the master of motors
Transformmission Powertrain (aka Stunticon Motormaster)
So here is a moment I have been waiting for ever since I bought Disorder however long ago. Menasor in not my favourite combiner among them all but the Stunticons are among my favourite sub groups. Motormaster being my second favourite after Wildrider (because FERRARI). I really loved the look of his truck mode with the extra windows on top, the colour scheme etc. My only gripe with MM was that he was his whole truck as opposed the just being the cab and that made things even worse when Prime pretended to be MM and then he could transform to truck mode and his trailer didn’t show up. Regardless of the whole pocket dimensions and mass shifting thing I like the fact that TFM went for a balance in-between both and even pulled a slight tribute to RiD 2001 Scourge with the battle platform. So with Powertrain we get a nemesis roller that serves as shield and chest plate so is that supposed to be a nod to Blackjack maybe? Did Blackjack even exist in the comics that way? I don’t read the comics so have no clue about the whole IDW Menasor look. Overall the alt mode I find really impressive and the bot mode looks rock solid. I do wish there was a back and forth ankle rocker but the ankle tilt is decent. Now I did say looks rock solid but that unfortunately is not the case. As I transformed him I found some personal nit-picks with my copy but not enough that I wouldn’t recommend it if someone asked.
Problems I have are:
1) The backpack will not stay tabbed in securely and can be knocked loose easily
2) He can’t hold his sword worth a damn, falls out to easily
3) He gun handle is floppy. How is he supposed to aim when once he holds his weapon it droops
4) The bicep swivel is really free on both arms and I mean breathing on them will knock them out of place
5) Some things that tab are super freakin tight and others can blow off in the wind.
I really think the TFM should have easily caught these issues and had them fixed before release ESPECIALLY when we are paying the $ that we are being asked to pay. Now granted these pieces are not for everyone from a price point standing but for those, like myself, that chose to spend the money, the tolerances really need to be looked at from start to finish. This is the second combiner team I have been able to finish this year and I am really, really hoping that I do not have another Poseidon on my hands. I have seen reviews from various people regarding the combined mode, use of the legs parts, one guy cut right through them and didn’t slide them down, or maybe he did and they got stuck, I have no idea. I use the reviewers like most as a guide so later on, when I go to combine him, I shall decide for myself. Now seeing also how I have 4 MP sized combiners already in this cabinet I’m not sure I can fit a 4th one but collectively I like the look of the guys as individuals and may leave them that way for display but they have to be combined at least once so wish me luck.