New Zealand.
Magnus was never released here, disappointingly, but they got scores and scores of Megs and Bulkhead, who didn't sell at all well and have clearanced. Funnily enough, there was a sale that started over the weekend at the chain that's clearanced them - 20% off all toys, including clearance stock! They never do this normally, so I was suitably impressed.
Tempting as it was to get lots of super-cheap stuff just for the sake of cheap doubles, I settled for the
Legacy of Bee pack. Y’know, the one with Premium NewBee, AniBee, and that nifty movie-themed repaint of ClaBee. It was an exclusive here and sold pretty poorly despite being a neat set, I was keen but not at full price as I already have ClaBee/Cliffy/Bugbite, and regular flavour Premium NewBee. But on clearance with 20% off it was dirt cheap, and I lack AniBee, so I nabbed it.
Turns out AniBee’s really neat, one of the best Animated figures. Just a shame about the paint/plastic matching and the annoying stingers not stowing fully, as he’s otherwise very nice. I shall be keen on the eventual Wasp repaint.
Also got
Jetfire at last. He looked tacky and meh in-package, so I’d held off until this sale. I kinda wish I hadn’t Jetfire is VERY complex, and takes full advantage of the budget his price point allows. The robot mode’s a bit messy and the kibble takes some arranging, but the jet mode is gorgeously finished and makes the most of the license they got for it. Lovely SR-71 model, coincidentally my favourite jet design, heh. It’s HUGE, and all the parts have a great matte finish, worth displaying on its own. Has robobits underneath, not as intrusive as they could’ve been though, and it really is a fiddly transformation with all the panels.
Robot mode has a few jointing issues and is a mite unstable, I hope to fix that. The cane sucks, fortunately it combines with his back kibble to make Prime’s gun, which Jetfire can also hold (Better if you turn the cane around). Articulation aplenty, just watch out for that horribly annoying “Jaetfyah’s m’naem!” soundbyte, I really hate that. Rest of the sounds are good, especially a nifty crashy stompy noise triggered by a button on his rear. They only cut out one joint from each arm as best as I can tell, shame as it would’ve helped for posing and combination, but nowhere near as intrusive as budget cuts in other toys.
Combination sucks in the default config, thankfully a little ingenuity results in an absolutely fantastic one, I love the combination now I’ve got it sorted to my liking. This is the first time since Fire Convoy and God Magnus that two toys of this complexity have combined, and it does the job remarkably gracefully – again, not in the supposed default configuration. I shall have to take pics, this one deserves its own topic and/or review.
In short, if you have Prime, buy Jetfire, you will not regret it.