It's not bad, though the way the arms are constructed leaves something to be desired. They're a bit more complicated than they need to be. Scourge would like him, there are some touches of Animated's proportions in his design, particularly the legs.Shockwave wrote:Was it at least a decent figure? I plan on doing a custom "Classics" version using the Bluestreak mold.
December Hauls!
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andersonh1
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Re: December Hauls!
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BWprowl
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Re: December Hauls!
A big, bundled box of bodacious blue badassery arrived from Dom over the weekend, just in time to be the last haul of the year! That’s right, TFPrime RID Rumble was sent to me, plus the sparkly variant of Trixie’s minifigure, along with the customary assortment of Dom extras, including a Movie Jazz Robot Heroes figure, a couple Horus Heresy novels, and a couple of those collectable Lego Minifigure things. Thanks for the hookup, Dom!
Especially thanks since Rumble’s turned out to be such a swank figure. I love his shade of blue, looking good on his cute lil tuner vehicle mode; the whole thing is very reminiscent of Animated Bumblebee, enhance even more when you attach the boosters/guns to the sides of it. Transformation’s a fun little exercise, with a couple cute/clever bits like the way the bumpers fold in and the neat rotate/slide-in that the side-panels do to wind up as backpack cannons, and you end up with this sweet, mean-looking little guy with big, badass shoulder chunks and a killer Ganmen-esque face sculpted as chest ornamentation (you can even leave the proper robot head folded fully in for full Ganmen action). Love his dynamic, ankle-rocked feet, they make even a standing pose seem exciting. Weapons are pretty cool, they clip on over his hands to serve as either pounders (he is carrying the name ‘Rumble’) or borderline CHAINGUN HANDS, depending on how you look at them, and they can even stash on the backs of his shoulders if you don’t want him armed with them constantly. He just looks like a mean little ball of smashy robot anger, and I am absolutely loving him. I actually rather hope this toy gets a repaint somewhere down the line, it’s just so damn neat.
Trixie is really fuckin’ sparkly!
Especially thanks since Rumble’s turned out to be such a swank figure. I love his shade of blue, looking good on his cute lil tuner vehicle mode; the whole thing is very reminiscent of Animated Bumblebee, enhance even more when you attach the boosters/guns to the sides of it. Transformation’s a fun little exercise, with a couple cute/clever bits like the way the bumpers fold in and the neat rotate/slide-in that the side-panels do to wind up as backpack cannons, and you end up with this sweet, mean-looking little guy with big, badass shoulder chunks and a killer Ganmen-esque face sculpted as chest ornamentation (you can even leave the proper robot head folded fully in for full Ganmen action). Love his dynamic, ankle-rocked feet, they make even a standing pose seem exciting. Weapons are pretty cool, they clip on over his hands to serve as either pounders (he is carrying the name ‘Rumble’) or borderline CHAINGUN HANDS, depending on how you look at them, and they can even stash on the backs of his shoulders if you don’t want him armed with them constantly. He just looks like a mean little ball of smashy robot anger, and I am absolutely loving him. I actually rather hope this toy gets a repaint somewhere down the line, it’s just so damn neat.
Trixie is really fuckin’ sparkly!
Re: December Hauls!
Box came in on Saturday from a deal over on TFW. Got the remaining 4 US Classics Seekers. Managed to get Skywarp for 35 and the other three for 20 each. It's the US Skywarp from the Ultra Magnus two pack and I don't think I've had this one before. It seems like Hasbro went out of their way to make sure every little detail of this figure was painted and it really works.
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BWprowl
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Re: December Hauls!
Man, the package from Dom wasn’t the end at all, I ended up getting a decent smattering of stuff for the real last Haul of the year on Monday!
Swung by TRU, where they had gotten a fair amount of new stuff in. The new yellow-bag wave of mini-Ponies was there, so I checked codes to find myself a Celestia, the one I really wanted. They also had a lone bag from the blue-bag Crystal wave, so I snagged that just because (it turned out to be Twilight Velvet, Twilight Sparkle’s mom, neat). TRU had also apparently gotten the Beast Hunters stuff in, along with the Generations cassette disc guys, though only a couple toys from each remained. They had one each of the packs of disc guys, but I opted to leave Rumble/Ravage on the shelf for now (they want ten bucks for these things!) and just get the Frenzy/Ratbat set. And they had Beast Hunters Wheeljack and Lazerback, but I *really* don’t feel like getting another of the Wheeljack mold (as cool as Dead End, the BBTS-exclusive Slicer-colored version, and even this new BH version look), so I just got Lazerback, since he’s the only fully new mold of the wave, and he’s a cool new dragonfing to boot.
The discs are okay for what they are, cassette guys done up all Bakugan-style. You can even use the (surprisingly nice) cases they come with to operate the pop-out-and-autotransform gimmick in lieu of not having Soundwave/Soundblaster/Blaster. Frenzy basically being a brick due to all the springs dragooning his limb movement hurts him a bit more than it does Ratbat (not that Legends are usually rocking a ton of articulation anyway, but still, it does kinda decrease their fiddle value), but at least they do what they do well. If these were like 6-7 bucks I’d be all over them, but for ten goddamn dollars, the package feels a little light. I mean, I know Bakugan are pretty much priced like this as well, but it’s like, I used to get three Mini-Cons the size of these things for seven bucks! I know, inflation and all that, but this the first time I’ve really caught it; the $15 Deluxes didn’t really bother me at all.
Speaking of Deluxes, Lazerback is pretty cool! His beast mode is great, a big ol’ gnarly-lookin’ dragon thing with a missile launcher that can pop out of its back (feels like it’s been a while since we got a new TF with a firing missile). His limbs are all pretty posable, with a shit-ton of joints in the hind legs, makes me wish the tail had more posability. Transformation’s rather simple, admittedly being nothing more than the ‘stand up, swap heads and hands’ that some BW toys fell into, and the resulting robot mode is a bit underwhelming, it’s stumpy doofiness reminding me not a little of Animate Snarl (the head’s similar too). The tail-whip-axe thing slipping over the hand works decently, and he can leave the launcher (which folds open) on his back or hold it in his hand. Paint on the head is a bit sloppy, and he has the TMII Cheetor thing going on where he can’t straighten his legs to stand up all the way, but it arguably works better for Lazerback, and we don’t have a show model to compare it to yet so it’s not as big a deal, comparatively. I dunno, despite the underwhelming robot mode and the goofy-ass colors (bright red, yellow, and purple, with the purple plastic having GOLD swirled into it, marbled plastic apparently being the Allspark Blue of the Beast Hunters line), I find myself inexplicably charmed by Lazerback. His beast mode is really good, makes up for the robot mode’s shortcomings, and he really feels very solid and chunky in ways that even I admit recent TF toys have been lacking. I’d definitely buy a repaint, I could see this toy being a good troop builder (in fact, I’m still placing bets that this thing is going to be the cannon fodder for the Predacons in the new TFPrime season). It’d look good in black with red, or maybe even a more yellow-dominated scheme.
Also, got a package from a guy on eBay on Monday, my first Mugenbine arrived! ArchTiger from the Mugen Engine series, figuring out how this thing worked was pretty interesting. The individual modes definitely aren’t putting, say, articulation above the component-building gimmick, but that versatility makes up for it, and the tiger and car modes definitely look good (the robot mode is admittedly a bit lacking). This is definitely a dangerous line; just having this one and I already want to buy a bunch more so I can start playing with different combinations and building cool huge shit.
So yeah, Happy New Year, everyone!
Swung by TRU, where they had gotten a fair amount of new stuff in. The new yellow-bag wave of mini-Ponies was there, so I checked codes to find myself a Celestia, the one I really wanted. They also had a lone bag from the blue-bag Crystal wave, so I snagged that just because (it turned out to be Twilight Velvet, Twilight Sparkle’s mom, neat). TRU had also apparently gotten the Beast Hunters stuff in, along with the Generations cassette disc guys, though only a couple toys from each remained. They had one each of the packs of disc guys, but I opted to leave Rumble/Ravage on the shelf for now (they want ten bucks for these things!) and just get the Frenzy/Ratbat set. And they had Beast Hunters Wheeljack and Lazerback, but I *really* don’t feel like getting another of the Wheeljack mold (as cool as Dead End, the BBTS-exclusive Slicer-colored version, and even this new BH version look), so I just got Lazerback, since he’s the only fully new mold of the wave, and he’s a cool new dragonfing to boot.
The discs are okay for what they are, cassette guys done up all Bakugan-style. You can even use the (surprisingly nice) cases they come with to operate the pop-out-and-autotransform gimmick in lieu of not having Soundwave/Soundblaster/Blaster. Frenzy basically being a brick due to all the springs dragooning his limb movement hurts him a bit more than it does Ratbat (not that Legends are usually rocking a ton of articulation anyway, but still, it does kinda decrease their fiddle value), but at least they do what they do well. If these were like 6-7 bucks I’d be all over them, but for ten goddamn dollars, the package feels a little light. I mean, I know Bakugan are pretty much priced like this as well, but it’s like, I used to get three Mini-Cons the size of these things for seven bucks! I know, inflation and all that, but this the first time I’ve really caught it; the $15 Deluxes didn’t really bother me at all.
Speaking of Deluxes, Lazerback is pretty cool! His beast mode is great, a big ol’ gnarly-lookin’ dragon thing with a missile launcher that can pop out of its back (feels like it’s been a while since we got a new TF with a firing missile). His limbs are all pretty posable, with a shit-ton of joints in the hind legs, makes me wish the tail had more posability. Transformation’s rather simple, admittedly being nothing more than the ‘stand up, swap heads and hands’ that some BW toys fell into, and the resulting robot mode is a bit underwhelming, it’s stumpy doofiness reminding me not a little of Animate Snarl (the head’s similar too). The tail-whip-axe thing slipping over the hand works decently, and he can leave the launcher (which folds open) on his back or hold it in his hand. Paint on the head is a bit sloppy, and he has the TMII Cheetor thing going on where he can’t straighten his legs to stand up all the way, but it arguably works better for Lazerback, and we don’t have a show model to compare it to yet so it’s not as big a deal, comparatively. I dunno, despite the underwhelming robot mode and the goofy-ass colors (bright red, yellow, and purple, with the purple plastic having GOLD swirled into it, marbled plastic apparently being the Allspark Blue of the Beast Hunters line), I find myself inexplicably charmed by Lazerback. His beast mode is really good, makes up for the robot mode’s shortcomings, and he really feels very solid and chunky in ways that even I admit recent TF toys have been lacking. I’d definitely buy a repaint, I could see this toy being a good troop builder (in fact, I’m still placing bets that this thing is going to be the cannon fodder for the Predacons in the new TFPrime season). It’d look good in black with red, or maybe even a more yellow-dominated scheme.
Also, got a package from a guy on eBay on Monday, my first Mugenbine arrived! ArchTiger from the Mugen Engine series, figuring out how this thing worked was pretty interesting. The individual modes definitely aren’t putting, say, articulation above the component-building gimmick, but that versatility makes up for it, and the tiger and car modes definitely look good (the robot mode is admittedly a bit lacking). This is definitely a dangerous line; just having this one and I already want to buy a bunch more so I can start playing with different combinations and building cool huge shit.
So yeah, Happy New Year, everyone!
Re: December Hauls!
Not to out do Prowl, I also got a box on Monday from a deal with a guy over on TFW. This time the box had Classics Voyager Prime, TFCC Side Burn, and Universe Sunstreaker. I think I'm done for a while.
Re: December Hauls!
I am tempted to post this as the first haul of 2013. But, this is technically my last haul of 2012.
-"Avengers" Skrull Soldier
-"Avengers" Chitauri Soldier
The "Avengers" figures are....not so good. The skrull is better by comparison to other figures, particularly the chitauri. But, it is a huge step down from what Hasbro has been doing with Marvel figures up until recently. The skrull lacks the torso joint and ankle joints, despite those things being more or less standard on Hasbro figures since at least 2007. The real issue I have with the skrull is the axe. The axe pegs in to a hole on the skrull's back, but there is nothing represented on the figure itself as holding the axe in place. Most SW or "GI Joe" figures have some kind of faux straps moulded on to figures to account for how backpacks stay on. The lack of similar detail here is bothersome. Additionally, the skrull is too big. Skrulls have traditionally been depicted as smaller than an average person, while this skrull is actually a bit larger than other figures in the various Marvel lines. However, the chirauri makes the skrull look like some of the best action figures form the previous decade. Besides a shameful lack of paint (and really poorly chosen base plastic), the chitauri is lacking even basic points of articulation. Along with the lack of torso articulation, the chitauri lacks basics like knee and elbow articulation. (Never mind ball joints, these limbs are not even hinged.) Oddly, the chitauri has ankle articulation. But, it is hard to make use of that when the damned legs are so stiff otherwise. The chitauri feels like a knock-off.
Skrull: C
Chitauri: F
-TrU import Laserbeak
-Kreon Insecticon and Quickslinger
Dom
-once again avoided buying FoC Jazz.
-"Avengers" Skrull Soldier
-"Avengers" Chitauri Soldier
The "Avengers" figures are....not so good. The skrull is better by comparison to other figures, particularly the chitauri. But, it is a huge step down from what Hasbro has been doing with Marvel figures up until recently. The skrull lacks the torso joint and ankle joints, despite those things being more or less standard on Hasbro figures since at least 2007. The real issue I have with the skrull is the axe. The axe pegs in to a hole on the skrull's back, but there is nothing represented on the figure itself as holding the axe in place. Most SW or "GI Joe" figures have some kind of faux straps moulded on to figures to account for how backpacks stay on. The lack of similar detail here is bothersome. Additionally, the skrull is too big. Skrulls have traditionally been depicted as smaller than an average person, while this skrull is actually a bit larger than other figures in the various Marvel lines. However, the chirauri makes the skrull look like some of the best action figures form the previous decade. Besides a shameful lack of paint (and really poorly chosen base plastic), the chitauri is lacking even basic points of articulation. Along with the lack of torso articulation, the chitauri lacks basics like knee and elbow articulation. (Never mind ball joints, these limbs are not even hinged.) Oddly, the chitauri has ankle articulation. But, it is hard to make use of that when the damned legs are so stiff otherwise. The chitauri feels like a knock-off.
Skrull: C
Chitauri: F
-TrU import Laserbeak
-Kreon Insecticon and Quickslinger
Dom
-once again avoided buying FoC Jazz.
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Onslaught Six
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Re: December Hauls!
Yws you did! You sold it to me. For $40. (Which is STILL a steal; your $35 is the cheapest I've seen him for ever.)Shockwave wrote:Box came in on Saturday from a deal over on TFW. Got the remaining 4 US Classics Seekers. Managed to get Skywarp for 35 and the other three for 20 each. It's the US Skywarp from the Ultra Magnus two pack and I don't think I've had this one before. It seems like Hasbro went out of their way to make sure every little detail of this figure was painted and it really works.
People spend so much time worrying about whether a figure is "mint" or not that they never stop to consider other flavours.BWprowl wrote:The internet having this many different words to describe nerdy folks is akin to the whole eskimos/ice situation, I would presume.
Re: December Hauls!
Really? I thought I'd sold you the Henkei one. Man, my memory sucks.Onslaught Six wrote:Yws you did! You sold it to me. For $40. (Which is STILL a steal; your $35 is the cheapest I've seen him for ever.)Shockwave wrote:Box came in on Saturday from a deal over on TFW. Got the remaining 4 US Classics Seekers. Managed to get Skywarp for 35 and the other three for 20 each. It's the US Skywarp from the Ultra Magnus two pack and I don't think I've had this one before. It seems like Hasbro went out of their way to make sure every little detail of this figure was painted and it really works.
It's kind of a matter of perspective. For 100 shipped I got Skywarp, Thrust, Dirge, and Ramjet. To my mind, that's Skywarp @35, the other three at $20 each and $5 shipping. The guy actually had Thrust Dirge and RJ listed as 18, 16, and 30 with Skywarp at 40. I didn't wanna pay 30 for ramjet, but was ok paying 20 for each seeker.