Transformers Generations – Power of the Primes: Liege Maximo w/Skullgrin

The last few years of Transformers Generations have been fantastic fun. Combiners have returned, Headmasters showed up in full force, and even a couple of Targetmasters have made cheeky appearances. Which brings us to the theme for 2018 – Power of the Primes.

Drawing on elements of Combiner Wars and Titan Masters (albeit indirectly), Power of the Primes also sees the return of the Pretenders, one of the more unusual gimmicks of the late G1 run. Now Headmasters, Targetmasters and Combiners are easy enough to slot into a canon explanation – but Pretenders really defy the (admittedly loose) in-universe logic. In the old storyline, a bunch of Transformers decided to kit themselves out in semi-articulated shells to better fit in and pass in human society. In principle this is fine, but I’m pretty sure no human was ever fooled by these designs.

Power of the Primes appears to have retained the names of the old Pretenders characters – but now the suits are repurposed as armour for the Prime Masters, as opposed to being independent entities. Who are the Prime Masters, you ask? Well, they’re similar in play pattern terms to Titan Masters; the Legends-, Deluxe- and Leader-class figures in the lines have slots that the Prime Masters can slot into, in order to provide a power boost. I guess it’s not totally dissimilar to the role of Mini-Cons in the Armada and Energon lines, though they don’t unlock new action features; it’s more cosmetic. In theory, you could pop the head off a Titans Return character and put a Prime Master in its place, though it would look a little weird.

In the mythos, they’re miniature robots that harness the power of the Primes, who are sort of the progenitors – gods even – of the Transformers race. Size really doesn’t matter, I guess.

Liege Maximo here is sort of a new character – there’s quite a mythos to the name itself, but it’s not totally clear how much of it applies to this toy. Presumably some of the tie-in media will fill these gaps in, but to me he seems a little small to be quite so…grand.

The Skullgrin armour was the bigger draw for me. It’s purple, which already puts it on my to-buy list, but it’s also one of the most heavy metal designs a Transformer has had in recent memory. A gigantic horned skull for a head, battle armour and a gigantic claw are all winning elements, and definitely help the figure pop on the shelf. There’s an impressive attention to detail on the sculpt too; even the interior panel has been decorated. If it had been totally blank, I don’t think anyone would have minded, and it’s little touches like this that keep me coming back to the line.  

That said, he’s not perfect. Articulation is limited to the arms swinging up and down, and the gun handle at his feet isn’t ideal for the look. The gun mode itself (not pictured) is kind of weak too, looking exactly like a Transformer lying on its face.   

Liege Maximo/Skullgrin is ultimately okay, and has left me with mixed feelings about the return of Pretenders. It hardly seems to have been a much-loved gimmick among the fanbase, and one must ask if design time and tooling might have been better spent elsewhere.

While I picked up a whole bunch of Titan Masters based on a mix of nice pricepoint, fun play pattern and good visual design, these figures are a much more mixed bag. The other two figures in this wave look horrendously ugly. Future waves? I’ll have to wait until I see them in person to make purchase decisions.  

Transformers Generations: Titans Return – Autobot Shuffler

I mentioned in my 2017 Roundup that the Titans Return range was one of my favourite things of last year. So it seems fitting that for the first review of 2018, we take a look at one of the Titan Master figures.

Being a huge sucker for prehistoric creatures, it’s actually a wonder I hadn’t picked up the mammoth-shaped Autobot Shuffler sooner. Largely it’s down to his Autobot status; though I have picked up a number of Autobots from this range, I am increasingly loath to by Autobots product. They don’t tend to fit into the larger collection, and space is increasingly at a premium within my house. But I made an exception for this little guy. 

Shuffler has three modes – the aforementioned mammoth, a tank and a gun for larger figures to hold. Typically, the Titan Master-scale figures look good in one or two of their modes and totally crap in at least one. Not so the case here; all of them look pretty good!  

In bot mode, Shuffler is a bit plain. It’s been a running complaint that there isn’t enough paint on the Titan Masters, even at the top-end models, and the same applies here. Even some eyes would have done wonders. However, his face is a little interesting by virtue of having a “snout” where his nose would be. It’s a nice sculpted detail. 

Shuffler’s mammoth mode has the rare distinction of appearing “complete” even when his head isn’t inserted into it. In fact, when he is inserted into the base body, the tab that sits on the back of his legs kind of makes it look like he has a big ol’ robotic dong. Hilarious.

The tank mode hides the elephantine look of the head more effectively than you might have thought. Shuffler serves as pilot, but if you leave him off the vehicle still has a nice mecha-style look to it.

While the gun (not pictured) is definitely the weakest of the modes, it still gives off a nice missile launcher vibe. The designers are to be commended for not simply trying to make the whole thing look like a giant pistol, which is something that has plagued a lot of the other Titan Master accessories. 

In head mode, he gives the appearance of definitely being a Decepticon, with his masked face and red eyes. Still, it’s oddly friendly, and I find myself sort of wishing that he had a “real” body to attach to. In fact, the only real downside about Shuffler is that he’s an Autobot. I mean, why cast him in these colours and NOT have him as a Decepticon? 

"Curse your betrayal, Shuffler!" 

Brand history is one thing, but he’s hardly a major character in the mythos. Recast him in a different colour scheme and call him a new character for the Autobots; new characters aren’t going to hurt. But in my personal canon, he will be serving strictly as a warrior for Galvatron. Maybe some kind of undercover spy, lurking among the Autobots until the time is right. Maybe even hijacking Autobot bodies in the process…who could say?

Though I only picked him up quite recently, Shuffler has rapidly become of my favourite figures from the Titans Return line. He’s sturdy, yet easy to transform, offers multiple play patterns and is easy to carry around in your pocket. Well done Hasbro.   

Transformers Generations: Titans Return – Galvatron (Voyager Class)

Company: Hasbro

Year: 2016

Sigh…I’ve been putting this review for a while, because generally I try and write positive reviews rather than negative ones. But in for a penny, in for a pound. Today we look at Galvatron from Titans Return.

Galvatron first appeared in Transformers: The Movie, way back in 1986. After Megatron came close to being killed during battle with the Autobots, he was taken away by Unicron and reformatted into GALVATRON, complete with a new voice from Leonard Nimoy.

Now the original Galvatron toy was somewhat unusual; most of the original Transformers toys were repurposed from a couple of different Japanese toylines – Diaclone and Microchange. But by 1986, Hasbro had burned through a lot of the designs from both these lines that worked with the Transformers concept and were starting to branch out with a few of their own designs. Galvatron was one of the first cabs off the ranks, as Hasbro had essentially planned to kill off a bunch of characters who were being discontinued in the next year’s range of toys – including Optimus Prime. That’s quite a story unto itself, of course…

I’ll start by saying that Galvatron is not a bad toy, but I’ll be keeping it fairly short. Refer to the points below:

•  Considering I recently bought the quite similar-looking Cyclonus, I can’t help but think he wasn’t quite worth the price of admission.
• The Titan Master function is a great concept, but it’s hindered by the execution of the head’s faceplate – you can’t turn his head, which is just kind of…silly in this day and age.
• The alt modes are a chore to transform. The gun/cannon mode looks good, particularly as a tribute to the original toy, but the jet is a really mixed bag. It looks cool on the box and I love the concept, but I don’t it just doesn’t translate in physical form. The whole thing screams of computer design combined with improperly tested protos.
•  There are a few known production issues with the toy – read about them here.
• Overall? Cool bot mode, but given my time again I would’ve saved my $$$. Here’s hoping he gets a better toy in years to come.

  

Transformers: Titans Return – Highbrow

Company: Hasbro

Year: 2016

 So I know I don’t normally have a lot to do with the Autobots, but every now and then one will slip through the net. But this week, Target stuffed up the pricing in their weekly catalogue, and the Deluxe Titans Return figures were reduced to only $15AUD a pop, which is an absolute steal!

At that price, I decided I should pick up Highbrow. I’ll take Decepticons in virtually any alt-mode, but for the Autobots they tend to have to be airborne vehicles. Plus, somewhere in my cupboard I have the Kre-O version of this guy, and since I was particularly fond of that Kre-O I thought it was time to get the “real” version of him.

Highbrow’s bot mode is awesome – the sunglasses-style design for faces is my second favourite after faceplates, and he stands very well. Colour scheme pops nicely on the shelf, and he manoeuvres easily into cool poses.  The lack of waist articulation is a slight downer, but a necessary element due to his transformation style. Xort, his Titan Master companion, is similarly cool in design. Rocking a semi-inverted Highbrow colour scheme, he’s very fun to look at. But on the downside, his joints are a little floppy – when removing the head, don’t be surprised if his legs and arms swing around a little. 

The vehicle mode isn’t quite as strong; it’s tandem rotor helicopter that wouldn’t look out of place in some mid-90s anime. While not a bad design in and of itself, the colours come across as very toy-ish (curiously, much more than they do in bot mode) and that is a little distracting. Still, it’s nice sculpting and the transformation doesn’t feel too forced or awkward, unlike some recent figures I’ve looked at.   

Now, TFWiki notes that there’s two known issues with this toy – the plug for the head doesn’t click in properly on some, and the legs are loose on others. The example I own is one of the former, but the good news is that you can kind of see it in the package. If he looks like his head isn’t clicked in properly, then you’re likely looking at one of them. The head is a little loose on mine, but nothing too severe. He just looks like he has an unusually long neck from certain angles.  

  

Overall? The vehicle mode isn’t as strong as bot mode, but it’s still a very fun toy. And considering the fairly nominal amount I paid for it, I’m extremely satisfied.  

Transformers Generations: Titans Return – Mindwipe

Company: Hasbro

Year: 2016

So, another week at the LBC, and another Titans Return review. I thought Combiner Wars was incredibly fun, but I feel like it’s been blown out of the water by this year’s releases. Tonnes of original sculpts, cool articulation, good updates to characters that haven’t been produced in years…what more do you want from a Transformers line?

So today we come to Mindwipe, and his little Titan Master buddy Vorath. As with many Transformers, I’m not really familiar with Mindwipe’s background but a quick glance at TFWiki suggests that he’s a next-level Edgelord in a faction that’s already mighty loaded with Edgelords. He’s a skilled hypnotist, and also spends a lot of time trying – though apparently unsuccessfully – to become the Transformers version of a necromancer. His alt-mode is a bat, which gives him a tenuous kind of vampire/goth connection. I get the impression he would have enjoyed The Misfits.

His bot mode is genuinely great, one of the best figures I’ve seen in quite some time. As I’ve noted numerous times, black and purple are my favourite Decepticon colours, which of course instantly gives him roughly 1000219702130932 extra cool points – though I think the design is a nice one, nonetheless.

Transformation is intuitive for the most part, though the placement of certain tabs makes it quite obvious that it was computer-designed.  And the alt-mode…well, it’s not bad, but it is kind of weird. I think it’s to do with the design of the head – it’s a little too busy in comparison to his bot mode, with lots of greebles decorating the surface. Additionally, the head is cast in a much softer plastic, which just seems strange. However, the jaw is articulated, which is a definite bonus. While in alt-mode, Vorath is stored in the chest, which is a nice Megazord-esque touch.  

Vorath himself is okay, but not amazing. He looks somewhat like a colour-swapped Apeface, and I think that a paint app on the face would have definitely enhanced his look a little. Still, these mini Titan Masters are always great fun.

I wasn’t originally going to pick up Mindwipe, but a friend talked me into it. Though I’m a bit ambivalent towards his alt-mode, his bot mode is fantastic, and worth the price of admission on that basis alone. Highly recommended for fellow members of the Decepticon nation.

Transformers Generations: Titans Return – Apeface

Company: Hasbro

Year: 2016

Titans Return continues to throw up more awesome toys, and today we take a look at another awesome Decepticon* – Apeface!

Black and purple Decepticons are my favourite. And as with all the Titan Masters, there’s four modes – the head, the Titan Master on his own, robot mode (in this case, a gorilla-bot) and combined vehicle mode (a jet). All of them work reasonably well, and it’s actually a bit of a shame that we’re not seeing this guy in deluxe size. In jet mode, he looks like a mini-Skywarp, which means I’m 99% guaranteed to love it. 

My only real criticism is that he doesn’t stand quite right in his gorilla-bot mode, but you can fudge the effect well enough. And this brings us to the most important question of all – in light of this year’s most popular meme, should we be calling this guy Harambot?

*Autobots can get in the bin 

 

Transformers Generations: Titans Return – Hardhead

Company: Hasbro

Year: 2016

Titans Return is trickling out in dribs and drabs across Sydney, and I am almost as excited as Big Kev used to be. I’ve already taken a look at Crashbash and Terri-Bull – and I plan to look at Galvatron in the next…ooh…week…?

Though I’m DECEPTICONS 4 LYFE™, Hardhead has such a cool design I couldn’t pass him up. Hopefully though, there will eventually be a Decepticon version released, preferably in some kind of purple, black and grey colour scheme. 

Hardhead isn’t a character I’d ever heard of before, but he was an original Headmaster back in 1987, paired with his partner Duros – now known as Furos, presumably due to trademark reasons. He’s primarily green and grey, though has black treads and a couple of yellow bits here and there. While the concept of transforming from a masked robot through into some kind of Cybertronian tank isn’t really new, this figure is an example of how the Titan Masters concept really shines. Hardhead’s head – Furos – pops off, turning into a fun little robot of its own. Furos can then be stored in the cockpit of the tank, giving it a little driver. Or alternatively, part of his cannon pops opens and he can be placed in there as a gunman. It’s such a small thing, but it’s immediately elevates it several notches above just about any other tank Transformer out there

As we know, correct scale is virtually non-existent for Transformers – but I like to think of the Titan Masters being around human size. This works quite well with Hardhead, and I’ll probably keep it as my yardstick for future reviews too.  

Hardhead’s transformation is that rare blend of easy and memorable, while not being dull. He has a couple of tell-tale signs of being designed by computer rather than by hand, but overall it’s a much smoother process than I have had with a larger Transformer in quite a while. Were that they were all so well-engineered.

Articulation is also excellent – a (detachable) ball-jointed head, ball-jointed shoulders, double-hinged elbows, cut wrists, ball-jointed hips, cut thighs, swivel-hinged knees (due to the transformation mechanism). If there was one thing missing that I’d like to see included, it would be a waist joint – but that’s just the nature of the figure’s transformation, and I can live without it. Even better, he’s still easy to keep standing – he doesn’t have that whole vibe of being able to be blown over in a stiff breeze which plagues some of Hasbro’s more heavily articulated figures.  

In vehicle mode, the tank’s treads are moulded rather than moveable, but they have been equipped with some discreet miniature wheels so they can be rolled along the ground. Additionally, there’s a few spots on the treads where other Titan Masters can be attached – you can up to six ready for action once you factor in the two cockpits. My only other Titan Masters are Decepticons, so they will not be taking Hardhead up on the offer -- but it's nice to know what the issues are head.

Hardhead has the rare distinction of being a Transformer that has equally cool bot and alt modes, something few have managed to achieve in the 30+ year history of the brand. Irrespective of your allegiances, he is a truly must-own toy. Highly recommended by the Lupine Book Club.

Transformers Generations: Titans Return – Terri-Bull

Company: Hasbro

Year: 2016

So after buying Crashbash, I got pretty excited and went back to Hobbyco the next day, with plans for picking up another Titan Master figure. The only other Decepticon Titan Master released so far is the subject of today’s review – Terri-Bull.

Back in the 1980s, he was known as Horri-Bull, and was a Headmaster who transformed into a bull. Here he’s been reimagined into a small head who rides a miniature tank, which in turn can be transformed to a jet. Not the most faithful interpretation of the character, but hey, times change. It would've been nice to see a bull Transformer, but I assume the moulding vs the reuse potential wouldn't necessarily cost out. Such are the economics of modern toys, I guess...  

But what’s more annoying for me is that the colours of the promotional images vs the actual figure are incredibly inaccurate. Hasbro has been using renders for a while now, and that’s okay in theory, it’s sometimes a little…misleading. This is one of those times. What’s rendered as gold on the package is more akin to some kind of unpleasant beigey-orange. That may not sound like a big deal, but it makes the whole thing look much more toy-ish, and the colour scheme isn’t anywhere near as appealing. You'll also notice that mine has a chip on his faceplate, though there's no way to be able to tell this when he's in the packaging, Good luck!  

The jet mode is pretty cool, and it’s good to have another Titan Master figure. So Terri-Bull isn’t from…terrible. But he’s a bit of a poor cousin to his prehistoric friend Crashbash. Fun, but not really essential unless you were a big fan of the character as a kid. Don't worry -- it shouldn't take the sheen of the Titan Masters for you. I've got a really fun one coming up soon...

Transformers: Titans Return -- Crashbash

In the 4.5 billionish years this planet has existed, dinosaurs have been pretty much the coolest creatures to ever walk God's green earth. Sure, humans weren't around for their heyday -- but ever since that first Megalosaurus bones were discovered back in 1824, they've had a stranglehold on popular culture, showing up in all sorts of bizarro places -- not least of which was Transformers.

Titans Return is pretty much the reintroduction of the Headmasters concept to the Transformers franchise, last seen in the late 1980s. Basically, the theme introduces the concept of Titan Masters – small Transformers who can combine with larger ones to supplement their power by replacing their heads. While it’s an excellent idea for establishing a play pattern, it’s slightly disturbing in storyline terms – two robots bonded together for the indefinite future, the larger stuck in a useless state when the head decides to pop off and move around on its own. I’m sure that’s not quite how it works, but it’s the version of events that sticks in my mind.    

However, as these transforming heads are intentionally designed to be interchangeable with one another, Hasbro has taken the novel step of selling some heads separately, using it to reintroduce some characters who presumably might not have gotten a release in another form. But though a head that transforms into a teensy robot is pretty cool, it's a little thin for a regular release...so each of these figures also comes packed with some kind of vehicle that can also be transformed into a weapon -- which can then be used either by the miniature pilot or by a larger figure. Pretty cool, huh? 

Considering that Hasbro tends to overprice TFs a little, I expected these heads to sell for $15-20 each, but I found this one at Hobbyco for a much more reasonably priced $11.95. This means they'll probably be $9-10 at Big W/Target/Kmart. The first wave offers some good options, but I was naturally enough drawn to Crashbash -- a purple Decepticon t-rex? Had I died and gone to heaven??? After recovering from this  near-death experience, I seized it tightly and knew that I had to buy it. It would go with my bizarro collection of other Decepticons, which currently numbers at somewhere between "waaaaaay more Transformers than I had as a kid" and "why didn't I buy a Thundercracker when I had the chance, aftermarket prices are redonk now".

Now, Crashbash is a character that was released back in the 1980s, though he was then known as "Squeezeplay" and was a kind of crab-person thing. Pretty cool, but the only real resemblance this modern version has to his 1980s incarnation is in the head mode. The T-rex look is a new one. 

And it's awesome!!! Crab people are cool and all, as South Park taught us years ago -- but T-Rex alt mode conquers virtually all other contenders. It's made by combining the Titan Master and the weapon mode together, Ingeniously, the legs become the lower half of the jaw, while the Titan Master's arms become the T-Rex's arms. You can also cheat a gun mode for bigger figures by fiddling with the legs and tail while using the "cannon" as a gun handle, but I haven't included a pic here.  

The Dragon (weapon) mode, by contrast, is neither here nor there -- it looks kind of like some kind of dino-chicken hybrid, and I don't really plan to make much use of it. It's nice to give the Titan Master something to stand on to. 

And head mode? Well, with the purple colour he might look nice on Galvatron. But I think he's going to stay in T-Rex or Titan Master mode most of the time. Though it is cool that the Titan Master's own head is a miniature facsimile of the larger head.

Now, I do have some minor criticisms. First, the promotional render makes this toy look as though it's kind of lavender in colour, but the real toy is much darker, more of a magenta colour. This isn't a problem -- I prefer magenta -- but the increasing reliance on renders in Hasbro's promotional material is giving a less and less accurate impression of what the final toy is actually going to look like. Going back to hardcopies really would be a better option, even if their paint jobs tended to be a little... questionable.  

Secondly, be warned -- the Titan Masters are a bit fragile, so have a spare or two handy if your kid plays rough. I'm quite gentle, and I've already had a couple of white pressure marks appear on him. 

Overall? If this toy had existed when I was a little kid, I have little doubt that it would have been one of my favourites. There's something indisputably awesome about a gigantic chunky figure like Devastator, but I have a lot of love for figures that are near capsule-toy size too. Ideally, I'd build an army of these guys...but I'll probably limit myself to just to or three. I vote that these separately-sold Titan Masters are a big success!  

Transformers Generations: Combiner Wars – Cyclonus

Company: Hasbro

Year: 2015

Originally debuting in Transformers: The Movie back in 1986, Cyclonus has never quite achieved the fame of some of the A-list characters of the franchise, but that doesn’t mean he’s not pretty awesome in his own right. Controversy still dogs his G1 origins – is he a reformatted version of Skywarp, or Bombshell? 30 years on, no one is really sure. For good reason, more recent continuities have avoided the question altogether by simply making him a separate character. IDW continuity currently has him as a good guy, serving aboard the Lost Light – but here, he’s all villain.

Retooled from the Aerialbot Silverbolt, Cyclonus is (to my eyes) a much better use of the mould, primarily thanks to his purple colour scheme. It’s weird; I don’t like purple all that much in my day-to-day life, but I have a real weakness for purple on Transformers.  

Cyclonus is a little unusual in that he doesn’t have an accompanying wave of bots to serve as his limbs when in his combined Galvatronus form. According to the box, his “official” limbs are Sky Dive, Air Raid, Dragstrip and Breakdown – but his bio also indicates that he can wield hypnotic power to make any compatible bot a potential limb, including Autobots. Personal canons can obviously run wild at this point. Currently I own three compatible bots, so if I ever buy a fourth (and I probably will at some point) I may actually build Galvatronus. Keep an eye on my Instagram (@lupinebookclub).  

The transformation is simple in principle but quite frustrating in execution. DO NOT LOSE YOUR INSTRUCTIONS if you can help it; I had an absolute pain of a time trying to track down some online after mine vanished into the aether. But the transformation essentially amounts to a sort of shellformer, like most of the Aerialbots did -- fold the nosecone up and then fold away the limbs to create the vehicle mode. 

Speaking of which, the vehicle mode is supposed to be some kind of Cybertonian plane, but as it shares a mold with Silverbolt it essentially amounts to a purple Concorde jet. Which is pretty great; Concorde jets were amazing to look at, and it's a shame that they're no longer in service -- the speed at which they could travel between countries was incredible.  

(Side note: in a curious twist, the fins on his on the back of his vehicle mode are actually assembled incorrectly in the box – they’re flipped the opposite way to the original G1 toy. You can pop them off and reattach them easily, but they do look fine in their “incorrect” form – they’ve been corrected for these pictures though.)   

In bot mode, articulation is pretty good – ball-jointed head, swivel shoulders, swivel biceps, hinged elbows, swivel-hinged hips, cut thighs and hinged knees. The neck doesn’t have a lot of motion, but his shoulders, biceps and hips are ratcheted, so they’ll stay put – and also keep everything sturdy when in Galvatronus mode.     

Accessories are always kind of ordinary with Transformers these days – the fact that the main toy can transform is really the main draw – and Cyclonus continues that trend. He’s armed with the same weapon as Silverbolt, but this time it’s been cast in a greyish silver. It splits into two pieces – a shield and a gun – but I think it looks a lot better as one long rifle, myself.  

Dubious accessories aside, Cyclonus makes a fine addition to any Transformers collection. As a big ol' purple Decepticon, he was a near essential purchase as soon as I laid eyes on him, and he continues the high standard that the Transformers Generations line has been setting for some years now. He's mostly gone from shop shelves now, but you may still be able to find him kicking around at a Target or Kmart. Recommended.  

Transformers: Combiner Wars – Devastator

"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Air Raid included for scale. Look how big this guy is!

Company: Hasbro

Series: Generations – Combiner Wars

Year: 2015

I have been putting this particular review off for quite a while. The better part of a year in fact. Not because I thought it was going to be a bad one – not by any means – but because I just didn’t quite know how to approach it; it was going to be a massive one whichever way I sliced it. This quite possibly the biggest figure I’ve ever reviewed, and certainly the most complex. This is a childhood dream come true – DEVASTATOR!

The Devastator toys I knew as a kid were in G2 colours – yellow and purple. I liked this, and still do; real life construction vehicles tend to be yellow, so it makes sense that the Constructicons would be too. I never owned all six figures, but at various stages owned Long Haul (who met his end in a urinal trough in Kindergarten) and Bonecrusher (who I still owned until somewhere round late high school).  After doing some research over at TFWiki, and considering the timeframe of owning these guys, I suspect that they may have even been part of a European release of the Constructicons that were cast in yellow and did not actually combine (heresy!) – but with the passage of time and the original items lost, I just can’t be sure.   

(Incidentally, at this stage, I don’t think I’ll be doing individual reviews of his component bots – there are plenty out there online already, though. OAFE’s are particularly comprehensive)   

But enough about my own, disappointingly limited encounters with the character. Suffice to say I’ve come to love the original green and purple look, and when I discovered this release was happening, Devastator immediately went on my must-have list. It took a couple of months of waiting, as I waited for stock to actually arrive, and then having to pay the thing off – but eventually, he was mine. And I was thrilled.  

Now at this point, I should mention that I bought the regular Hasbro release, which some people will no doubt tell you is for chumps. I buy enough Transformers to know that the Hasbro vs Takara wars are likely to rage until the sun burns out and takes Earth with it – possibly even longer, to be honest. From a more neutral perspective, though, there are three different versions of Devastator doing the rounds. The one you see in pics here is the “vanilla” one, which I believe was the only one that released in Australia. There was also a version released for SDCC 2015 and sold on the Hasbro Toy Shop website – this utilised the same sculpt, but came in a different box, incorporated a number of additional paint apps, had some vac-metallised parts and also featured a visor-less head sculpt. Pretty cool! But SDCC Exclusives come with a premium…and I’m not huge on vac-metallised toys, so it was never really an option for me. However, the Takara version – released under the Unite Warriors banner – may be worth springing for if you can get it at a reasonable price. The paint apps are different, and arguably better, as tends to be the case with Takara releases. But perhaps most importantly, the individual bots have been slightly retooled from their Hasbro incarnations to include additional articulation. The combined form has also been given ratchet joints in the shoulders, which is a nice additional source of stability for the figure. Each individual bot also gets its own gun, as the original figures did.  

Now to the combined form of Devastator itself/himself. This is one big toy. It’s not as big as Metroplex, granted, but it’s no slouch in the height department. Scale may be relatively non-existent when it comes to Transformers of any vintage, but you can rest assured that he will appropriately tower over any of your other figures – as he should. He totally dwarfs the original Devastator too, and makes it look terrible by comparison. I understand nostalgia very well and everything, but if you think Transformers toys from the 1980s were better than the ones we have today, you need to get with the program.  

That said, he takes a lot of cues from the vintage toy and the G1 cartoon. He’s still made up of six robots, and clicks together in the same formation – though obviously attaching everything together is a bit more convoluted. And he actually stays together this time, too! What a world we live in.

I mentioned earlier that I didn’t plan to do individual reviews of his components, and the G1-ish nature is partially why. The individual bots are very cool, but as someone who doesn’t have a strong attachment to the cartoon, I think they should have opted for a slightly updated look to their head sculpts, rather than going for cartoon accuracy. It wasn’t a deal-breaker by any means, but I was slightly surprised, given the primarily more modern aesthetic of the Combiner Wars figures. While the core design of Devastator’s head is definitely pretty 80s-tastic (those sunglasses!), it’s been given enough detailing to bring it into the 21^st century.  

More importantly, he now has articulation. Though not as agile as some of his smaller brethren, his ratcheted hips and knees, combined with a good centre of gravity mean that you can get him into plenty of awesome poses. There’s even some neatly concealed ankle articulation, though be careful when you access it – you don’t want to pull it the wrong way and accidentally break something. His shoulders feel a little flimsier, but they won’t pop off without you meaning them too or anything; you may just need to do some rearranging of the treads that make up the “sockets” after you move the arms. I would note here though that every time you move the ratcheted thigh joints, it sounds and feels like it’s going to break. It won’t – at least mine hasn’t yet – but I try to be pretty gentle. If this bad boy broke I would be furious.

Amazing as a collector’s piece or kid’s toy, Devastator is an essential addition to ANY Transformers collection – or a great excuse to start one! I bought a bunch of toys in 2015, and Devastator here is easily one of the best toys I bought during that time. Possibly the best, even.  Having been out for in Australia for almost a year now, you may need to do a bit of legwork to track him down – but he’s well worth it.

Transformers Generations: Combiner Wars – Swindle

Company: Hasbro

Year: 2015

I haven’t reviewed a Transformer in quite a while, but I have a couple more planned for the next couple of weeks…including one particularly big one that’s been eyeing me off from the shelf for a few months.

Though I’m definitely not all-in on the line, Combiner Wars continues to go from strength to strength with the release of the component Decepticons for Bruticus. Bruticus and his component Decepticons received figures relatively recently, during the 2012 Fall of Cybertron subline of Generations. However, as these were based on the game, they weren’t very G1-looking, and the actual execution got a bit of a mixed reception. But truth be told, I don’t remember Bruticus at all from my younger years of Transformers fandom. I don’t remember seeing any of his component toys (maybe Blast Off), as by the time I was old enough to really be interested in Transformers, the G2 re-releases were the ones on store shelves. Bruticus got one in 1994, long after they’d dropped off my radar.

Basically, Swindle is new territory for me, so you get to undertake the magical voyage of discovery with me. Apparently Swindle is a heavy retool of Rook (the Protectron), but they’ve done an impressive job of making him look totally different. He transforms between ‘bot and some kind of army jeep, just like the G1 version, but is now a little less squat and obviously a lot more articulated. The articulation is pretty much what you'd expect, and he moves very well. The main noteworthy feature is that he seems to have some sort of side-to-side swivel on his ankles -- it's surprisingly not part of his transformation, but it helps him stay balanced for deeper poses.   

On another note, I tend to prefer my Transformers without humanoid faces, but the purple sunglasses are a nice 80s retro-futuristic throwback, which in my book gives him an edge over some of his other befaced Decepticons.        

Swindle’s colour scheme is a nice desert camouflage in vehicle mode, but when you transform him to bot mode he’s actually got a lot of black and purple, along with a bit of dark, metallic grey. It’s not dissimilar to the colour scheme the Constructicons had back in G2, though somewhat more realistically executed (though I use this term loosely as realism doesn’t really factor in to Transformers). But speaking of G2, there will apparently be a G2 colour scheme repaint box set of Bruticus later this year too – I think I’ll pass on that one though, it’s a little too 90s neon for my tastes.      

And for those who like the mould but not Decepticons or the colour scheme, you’re in luck! Swindle has undergone a further retool to become Autobot Hound, who's be part of Sky Reign (who looks awesome, by the way).

In addition to his gun and his hand/foot piece for becoming part of Bruticus, Swindle is also packed with a copy of Robots in Disguise #12, which has been rebranded as Combiner Wars #4. It’s a good read – and reminds me that I need to pick up some of the IDW compilation – even if it doesn’t actually include Swindle in there. Still, that’s oddly appropriate, given that Swindle’s characterisation is all about ripping people off.   

I don’t plan to complete Bruticus; his combined form is pretty cool, but some of the regular bots just don’t grab me. But overall, Swindle is a great standalone character for any Decepticon collection. And even if you don't want Bruticus, he still works as a Cyclonus limb too.   

Alpha Bravo (Transformers: Generations Combiner Wars)

Series: Transformers: Generations Combiner Wars

Year: 2015

Company: Hasbro

BACKGROUND

Hasbro has declared 2015 to be the “Year of the Combiner”, and the first of its releases are on us now – the Aerialbots, the original Autobot Combiner Team that first debuted back in 1986. So today, we take a look at their newest member – Alpha Bravo!

Alpha Bravo is something that seems to be quite rare in Transformers lore these days – a new character! Back in ye olden days of the 1980s, all of the Aerialbots were planes, but Hasbro have decided to mix it up and throw a helicopter in there too. Though I’m traditionally a nostalgia buff, I’ve got no real emotional investment in the retro Superion so I think it’s a change for the better. 

Going off TF Wiki he doesn’t seem to have appeared in any of the cartoons as yet, but he has appeared in some of the IDW comics (which I really must get round to reading). He’s a blank slate to me, so that’s fine. Hopefully he doesn’t end up being dreadful if/when he makes it to the animated world.   

SCULPT AND ARTICULATION

Like many Transformers before him, Alpha Bravo is obviously heavily inspired by Japanese mech shows such as Gundam and Macross/Robotech. But one of the closest points of reference is actually from Lego – this guy, who you see in the photo to the left. 

From a mech design standpoint, he’s kind of generic, but as an Autobot he’s quite distinctive. For starters, he’s got a faceplate instead of a mouth (which instantly boosts any character about 10 points in my book). Also, his primarily orange and white colour scheme really makes him pop in amongst my TFs, who are primarily dark-hued Decepticons. Bot mode alone justifies the purchase, in my book.      

Articulation is as follows:

*ball-jointed neck

*ball-jointed shoulder

*swivel-hinged elbows (the hinge is also ratcheted)

*ball-jointed hips

*cut thighs

*hinged knees

The “toes” also move, but this is part of the transformation and won’t necessarily help with posing, due to their angle. Most of the articulation works very well – a bicep swivel might have been nice, but it’s not really necessary. The only real problem area (and it’s not a major one) is the hips. This is a problem I’ve run into a few times on Transformers figures. On most human-based action figures, the hip is usually some variation on a ball and socket joint, just like a real-life hip. Some Transformers are like this too, but most of them force a squared-off balljoint beneath an equally square or rectangular hip – naturally this creates an issue and will limit the poses you can place your robot in. Not a major drama, just something to flag.    

The alt mode itself just doesn’t quite grab me, though. At first glance it kind of looks like a space shuttle (based on the nosecone) but it’s actually a helicopter. There’s nothing really wrong with it, but I think the rotor should be back a little further, and the relative lack of paint in comparison to the prototype shots makes it a little flat.   

Still, it’s a huge amount of fun to transform between modes. It’s quite intuitive; I was able to figure out most of the broad strokes without looking at the instructions, but what threw me was the legs – the lower halves of the legs actually break open to conceal the upper halves when you’re going into vehicle mode. With this said, there’s still a lot of little tabs and slots all over the place that are very easy to get wrong. The ones holding the tail rotor down in vehicle mode are particularly tight – be careful when changing him back to robot, as you don’t want to break him.

The vehicle mode doesn’t make it immediately obvious that there’s a robot stuffed away in there, which is also nice – the main “tell” is the hands/missiles.  

ACCESSORIES

Alpha Bravo’s main accessory is his assault rifle, which can be held in either hand. It’s plain black plastic but has a couple of nice details, particularly the ammo feed. When he’s in vehicle mode, you can plug the gun into a 5mm hole on his underside.

Like all of the new Aerialbots, Alpha Bravo can serve as either an arm or leg for Superion. His default position is a leg though, so he comes with a “foot” piece.

Last but not least, he comes with a trading card which has nice art but isn’t very toy accurate – he looks more red than orange in it and also has two weapons. I might put it to use as poster on one of the Turtle’s walls or something.

PAINT

I’m yet to see the Transformer who would be a contender for paint-job of the year, but Alpha Bravo’s is some of the neatest work I’ve seen in the Generations line as yet. No fuzzy lines or accidental overspray…it’s a nice change. It’s not amazing, but the only real weak points are the gold on his arms/missiles. The tampographs are also exceptionally well-applied.   

AVAILABILITY

Alpha Bravo has been available at both Target and Toys R Us in Australia. I’m yet to see them anywhere else, and based on prior waves of TF: Generations, I’d suggest getting in quickly.

Hasbro has taken an interesting approach to this and the next wave of Combiner Wars. Drag Strip (a Decepticon who is part of another gestalt, Menasor), was released as part of the same wave as Superion.

The Combiner Wars figures are more or less interchangeable between their particular gestalts, so you can make a complete Superion now…but you won’t be able to make a “true” Superion until the Menasor wave is released later in the year, as this includes Air Raid – who, irritatingly, is actually the only Aerialbot I had planned to buy.  

OVERALL

The new Superion looks amazing, but I just don’t think I can afford him at the moment. Other toys have my finances locked down for most of 2015 – in particular, DEVASTATOR, who will no doubt cost a king’s ransom. Awesome as it would be to have two massive combiners to fight each other, I think I’ll just pick up Air Raid when he’s released and call it quits.

Taken solely on his own merits, Alpha Bravo is incredibly fun. His alt mode may be a little underwhelming, but he looks so great in robot mode that it doesn’t really matter. 

Jarugar and Trypticon (Transformers: Age of Extinction Kre-O Microchangers)

Some months ago, I reviewed a few characters from the Transformers 4: Age of Extinction blind-bagged Kreons. But I bought several others too – so let’s look at two Decepticons today, Jarguar and Trypticon.

Jarugar changes into a car. This is unfortunate, as I hate the Kreon cars. While some of them look good, the articulation of the arms and legs on the Kreon body makes them quite flimsy, and they don’t hold together particularly well. Move it slightly and wheels start popping off, pieces don’t hold…it’s a pain in the butt. You’ll also notice that there’s no photo of him in alt mode, but if you’re really keen you can see it here. As you’ll read on that link, building him in alt mode works even more poorly than normal cars in this line.   

Nonetheless, he’s a cool-looking grey bot. His burgundy dual-wielded guns are particularly flash, and he makes for a solid, if unspectacular addition to my Decepticon forces.

Trypticon is a little more interesting, given that he is a giant purple tyrannosaurus rex. How could that possibly go wrong? Oh, wait…

Obvious jokes aside, Trypticon is fun in his T-Rex mode, and perfectly serviceable in his bot mode. I’d love to see more of this design in different colourways. My only real issue (and this applies to Jarguar too) is that their paintjobs have clearly been inspired by the Michael Bay style of Transformer, where there are zillions of moving parts -- this works fine for the movies, but for this style of figure, I tend to think simpler is better.  

Essentially, neither of these guys really blew me away, but Trypticon in particular is a fun addition to my small collection. 

It seems that the Microchangers theme has come to an end, but we will see another blind-bagged Kreons line sometime in 2015, re-branded as Kreon Warriors. Will they make it to Australia? Given that these guys are still pretty easy to find almost a year after the movie came out and that Collection 2 of the Age of Extinction Microchangers never made it here, I'm a little sceptical. But it's been a reasonably fun ride while it has lasted.