May Hauls!

[BWprowl]

Beast Hunters Arcee – Target had her clearance down to seven bucks, and with our friendly discussion on gender happening in the Windblade thread, I felt I could stand having a few more female Transformers among my ranks. She’s a decent enough toy. Very expressive arms/hands, colors are a cool mix, weapon is hilariously huge (but neat, I like how it attaches in vehicle mode and can be either a huge bow or a huge claw). Transformation is rather simple, kind of a let-down in that respect. But overall, a neat little toy, at least worth the clearance bux I paid for her.

Generations Age of Extinction Grimlock – Ran across the Gen AoE Leader Prime and Grimlock yesterday (they’re about as clearly-labeled as ‘Generations’ as the Classics toys were as ‘Classics’), surprising the hell out of me. I’ve wanted Grimlock since we saw pics of him at Toyfair, the weapon and the general design just really sung to me, so I snapped him up. There were changes from the original (in the packaging pics) and what the actual toy looks like, namely that large swaths of his colored plastic have been replaced with silver chrome. On the one hand, big bits of chrome on a toy this large can easily scream BOOTLEG, but on the other hand, giant chrome-silver dino-robot! And, at least in robot mode, the chrome parts work with the design pretty well. Not quite as much in dino mode, where just like a solid half of the top of the thing is a big chunk of shiny silver. Might do a full review (I’m almost thinking about a *video* review) of this thing, but suffice to say I like it, though I’m not quite sure if I $45 worth of like it, it definitely feels smaller and less substantial than past Leaders, and there’s a surprising lack of gimmicks, in that he has NONE beyond actually transforming. Not even an LED or an automorph anywhere, that’s what was most shocking about it.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle (PS3) – This was released last week and shipped to me to arrive yesterday. I’m blown away that this game got released over here, though there’s at least SOME precedent for it: The Capcom game from nearly twenty years ago came over here too, and was decently well-known (everyone knows ‘WRYYYYYYYYYYYY!’). Plus hey, the new anime is streaming simulcasted, so maybe they’re trying to really push it now? Who knows, but I ain’t gonna complain about ASB coming here. Awesome JoJo-fanservice fighter that caters on all the absurd levels that make the series so entertaining, to the point that they included translated subtitles for all the special move names, so we’ll ‘get’ everything. Of course, they had to change several of the names of things to write around musical copyrights (Killer Queen and its Sheer Heart Attack become Deadly Queen and Heart Attack, for instance), but the *spirit* is still there, and it’s all still great.

Also, belated April Haul – I picked up a bunch of the AoE Construct-Bots Dinobot Riders, all but Bumblebee. These are ludicrously entertaining little toys, decidedly G1 Minibot-esque, but with ball-jointed attachments everywhere. Cute little vehicle modes, especially the sportscar ones (I dig Crosshairs’s transformation being ‘backwards’ from the others), and fun to exchange bits around. Just fun little fiddly toys.

[JediTricks]

I must admit, I have been somewhat tempted by the dino riders Construct-bots, despite my distaste for bagged construction figures.

Picked up Cosmos and Swerve last week, like 'em.

[Onslaught Six]

Of course, they had to change several of the names of things to write around musical copyrights (Killer Queen and its Sheer Heart Attack become Deadly Queen and Heart Attack, for instance), but the *spirit* is still there, and it’s all still great.

I still don't understand how this was a problem. Does Queen own the trademark to their album names in literally every department?

[BWprowl]

I still don't understand how this was a problem. Does Queen own the trademark to their album names in literally every department?

It makes some sense, given the bevy of musical/dancing games that have continuously come out for the better part of a decade, that some of these bands would want to protect the usage of their names and work. You could potentially argue that the guys putting ASB out could misleadingly advertise it as something like “Featuring Killer Queen and Crazy Diamond!” even though they obviously wouldn’t pull that.

That said, it does all seem terribly inconsistent within the game itself, presumably based on what they felt they could get away with versus who they knew they didn’t want to piss off. The aforementioned Crazy Diamond becomes Shining Diamond (nicely preserving the reference anyway), while Sticky Fingers has to be renamed whole-hog into ‘Zipper Man’. The Pillar Men get their names creatively translated into Waamuu, Kars, and Esidisi, though these had always been accepted as valid translations in the past anyway, while Dio goes untouched (as do all the Zeppelis, though their reference isn’t quite as blatant). By far the strangest case is Jean-Pierre Polnareff, who has to be renamed into ‘Jean-Pierre Eiffel’ despite not only the fact the real Polnareff wouldn’t seem well-known enough for the use of part of his name to cause a stir, but the fact that JP Polnareff has never had trouble with his name before in any of the previously-released JoJo media (including the new anime that’s streaming in the West, alongside this game, RIGHT NOW). And amongst all that, somehow, Robert EO Speedwagon gets through with his name entirely intact. Truly bizarre.

[Onslaught Six]

I dunno, it seems like a weird cop-out. Their lawyers are probably too defensive.

Anyway. I spent way too much fucking money!

Saw Winter Soldier again, with Striderneko this time. It was just as good as the first time! Perhaps better? Dunno.

Got a long-awaited FoC Blaster and Grimlock, then found a Generations Whirl! There was also some more Retaliation Joes (Jinx and Lady Jaye) but I opted not to get them, only to find Kwinn and Budo for $5 each at Five Below--nice! Then I grabbed some trades--the 10th and final Transmetropolitan collection as well as a X-Men Days Of Future Past trade. Because I'm hyped as fuck for the movie, haven't read the original in years (and my girlfriend never has) and don't own it in any form, so why not!

Oh, and then I discovered that there's a comic shop in the next town over, so I picked up some recent IDW TMNT and Scarlet Spiders--mostly so I would actually make a purchase in the joint--but they have a decent selection. I heard talk of pull files being thrown around by some of the regulars, and while I didn't see any TF, I'm sure that if I asked they would start ordering it for me. (It may also just be that they only order a few copies, as the town they're in is actually very small.)

[BWprowl]

Mentioned this the other day in Dom’s inexplicably-placed AoE Street Date thread, but I picked some stuff up out of that: Generations Scorn, Slug, and Evasion Mode Optimus Prime. Slug was the one I’d been wanting to most, owing to his badass-looking beast mode, but in practice he’s a bit lackluster, his back-kibble in robot mode being severely clumsy, and that mode as a whole not selling the whole ‘big medieval warrior in heavy armor’ look I’ve been enjoying about the Movie Dinobots. Beast mode is still rad as hell though, and I like the way the swords attach to the sides for run’n’slice action. He looks positively demonic, it’s great.

Turns out Scorn’s the winner of the initial Dinobots though. He’s huge for one, actually feels like he belongs with those extra-large, extra-detailed Deluxes we were getting a few years back. Nicely posable Spinosaur mode, particularly in the head/neck area, and the transformation has some nifty little flourishes to it, including a slight Automorph, and the way the spines fold back and the head contorts into his hand. A very solid, excellent figure, though I do worry about the rubberiness of the tail/lance.

Optimus appealed to me on the cutesiness of this version’s particular gimmick. Something about G1 Prime’s altmode turning into Movie Prime’s Robot mode is just too appealing. Helps that said vehicle mode looks REALLY nice, great details on it, save for the open back on the cab. Transformation, despite liberal use of fake kibble, still manages to be quite interesting (had they forgone the fake parts, the transformation actually could have been simpler, but the proportions would be more ‘off’ in Robot Mode. And given that Optimus Prime has been doing this stuff since his second G1 toy, I’m inclined to give him a bit more leeway in it). Robot mode looks good, detail-wise, but definitely needed better use of color and paint, he comes off way to primary and blocked-out in solid reds and blues here. I might at least add the silver stripes he’s supposed to have on his chest. On the other hand, I like this base mold enough that if Hasbro comes out with a ‘premium’ version (maybe one in the washed-out colors we’ve seen him in in the previews) I might be inclined to pick that up. Everything feels very quality and solid on it, and he even does that ‘relatively small vehicle mode explodes into huge robot’ thing that was so endemic of the early Movie toys, and that I really liked. For extra fun, he includes the shotgun accessory that you’re pretty much meant to give to DOTM Voyager Megatron, so I dug mine out, and oh man, that toy is pretty much perfect now. They even included pegs on the side of it so it can stick to Megatron’s back, they friggin’ nailed it. Only problem is now I need to find a spare weapon to give to Optimus instead. I’m kinda sad I sold my DOTM Jolt now, his Mechtech gun woulda been perfect.

Waiting for the next wave to appear now, saw some pics yesterday that made Strafe look incredible.

Oh, and while I was out looking for Street Date toys, I picked up the new ‘Super Megaforce’ action figure of Robo Knight/Gosei Knight from Power Rangers Megaforce/Goseiger. I don’t care that much about Goseiger, and the main suit designs don’t appeal too much, but Gosei Knight has such a badass design that I’d happily spend eight bucks on a 5” figure of him.

[138 Scourge]

I went on a search for some street date movie toys, as well, but the Targets and whatnot around here just were not interested in setting out any of the movie toys. Toys R Us did have them out, though, and after trying real hard to decide between Slug and Scorn or Voyager Grimlock, I eventually settled on Generations Sandstorm. No regrets on that at all, because as much as I like Springer, this version of the mold might actually be better. I've been enjoying Sandstorm enough that I had to pull Springer off the shelf to compare just how different the two are.

[andersonh1]

Doctor Who - The Enemy of the World on DVD, the second of the two stories that were returned last year. You can't beat some previously unseen Patrick Troughton black and white Doctor Who.

[JediTricks]

Mentioned this the other day in Dom’s inexplicably-placed AoE Street Date thread, but I picked some stuff up out of that: Generations Scorn, Slug, and Evasion Mode Optimus Prime. Slug was the one I’d been wanting to most, owing to his badass-looking beast mode, but in practice he’s a bit lackluster, his back-kibble in robot mode being severely clumsy, and that mode as a whole not selling the whole ‘big medieval warrior in heavy armor’ look I’ve been enjoying about the Movie Dinobots. Beast mode is still rad as hell though, and I like the way the swords attach to the sides for run’n’slice action. He looks positively demonic, it’s great.

Turns out Scorn’s the winner of the initial Dinobots though. He’s huge for one, actually feels like he belongs with those extra-large, extra-detailed Deluxes we were getting a few years back. Nicely posable Spinosaur mode, particularly in the head/neck area, and the transformation has some nifty little flourishes to it, including a slight Automorph, and the way the spines fold back and the head contorts into his hand. A very solid, excellent figure, though I do worry about the rubberiness of the tail/lance.

Optimus appealed to me on the cutesiness of this version’s particular gimmick. Something about G1 Prime’s altmode turning into Movie Prime’s Robot mode is just too appealing. Helps that said vehicle mode looks REALLY nice, great details on it, save for the open back on the cab. Transformation, despite liberal use of fake kibble, still manages to be quite interesting (had they forgone the fake parts, the transformation actually could have been simpler, but the proportions would be more ‘off’ in Robot Mode. And given that Optimus Prime has been doing this stuff since his second G1 toy, I’m inclined to give him a bit more leeway in it). Robot mode looks good, detail-wise, but definitely needed better use of color and paint, he comes off way to primary and blocked-out in solid reds and blues here. I might at least add the silver stripes he’s supposed to have on his chest. On the other hand, I like this base mold enough that if Hasbro comes out with a ‘premium’ version (maybe one in the washed-out colors we’ve seen him in in the previews) I might be inclined to pick that up. Everything feels very quality and solid on it, and he even does that ‘relatively small vehicle mode explodes into huge robot’ thing that was so endemic of the early Movie toys, and that I really liked. For extra fun, he includes the shotgun accessory that you’re pretty much meant to give to DOTM Voyager Megatron, so I dug mine out, and oh man, that toy is pretty much perfect now. They even included pegs on the side of it so it can stick to Megatron’s back, they friggin’ nailed it. Only problem is now I need to find a spare weapon to give to Optimus instead. I’m kinda sad I sold my DOTM Jolt now, his Mechtech gun woulda been perfect.

Waiting for the next wave to appear now, saw some pics yesterday that made Strafe look incredible.

I just saw Strafe pics today, looked really simplistic in sculpt and transform, these Dinobots keep doing nothing for me unfortunately.

I guess I'll stick with my "pass" decision on Scorn too, based on that review.

Sounds like a pass on wave 1 Evasion Prime. The Platinum Edition is way over-chromed, so I'm hoping too that they get to a repaint, and one with a mouthplate sculpt instead of open.

I went on a search for some street date movie toys, as well, but the Targets and whatnot around here just were not interested in setting out any of the movie toys. Toys R Us did have them out, though, and after trying real hard to decide between Slug and Scorn or Voyager Grimlock, I eventually settled on Generations Sandstorm. No regrets on that at all, because as much as I like Springer, this version of the mold might actually be better. I've been enjoying Sandstorm enough that I had to pull Springer off the shelf to compare just how different the two are.

Better than Springer, how so?

Grimlock I think is a wait-level toy compared to those choices, it's got some charm but between the paint and the flawed alt mode, it isn't what I think of as a priority.

[138 Scourge]

Well, keep in mind that I said "maybe" better than Springer. When you compare the two, Springer looks really kind of streamlined, he doesn't have all this extra stuff all over him and is a hell of a good toy in all three modes. And Sandstorm does all that, but has this extra visual appeal of having all this crazy extra detailing all over him. Maybe its just the excitement over a neat new toy, maybe it's just that I've had a version of this mold for almost a year now and I've figured out all of it's tricks to getting all three modes to click into place. Or maybe its just having both of them shows just how damn good this toy design is. Like, it can be one character perfectly, and then be an entirely different one pretty damn well.

But to be more specific, Sandstorm fixes my minor issues with Springer. In the car mode, Springer looks great, but the armor bits on his back that stick up in a v-shape make the hood kind of gappy. Sandstorm doesn't have those, so that issue is gone. In Springer's helicopter mode, I can never get the rotors to spin without then running into the tailings. Obviously, not an issue with the VTOL on Sandstorm. And I feel like Springer's copter mode was the weakest of the three forms that toy can be in, while the VTOL is as exciting as the other two forms on Sandstorm.

In conclusion, this mold is amazing and I'm really happy I bought both versions and I probably could have done this in the review section but whatever.