Robot Revolt #17
Tag: G1
Legacy Leader Blitzwing Review
So, the various CHUG lines (oral joke goes here) have been going strong in Transformers since 2006 and the triple changers have mostly been meh. For every Thrilling 30 Springer, there have been about a dozen Titans Return Broadsides. OK, that’s a bit hyperbolic, but nothing has come close to the aforementioned Wrecker leader, save his re-tool Sandstorm, since the line started. Especially on the Decepticon side. Of course, some compromises have to be made for getting 3 modes for the same price as two, but I always the con ones felt more compromised than others right up until Siege/Earthrise Astrotrain. While still nowhere near the greatness of Green Han Solo of the 30th Anniversary, it looked great, transformed well and felt worth the wait…if not the price. Leader money for a Voyager with a box? Hard to swallow but just edged it. So when Legacy Blitzwing got announced, I was ecstatic. Finally, THE Decepticon triple changer gets a toy that will do him justice.
And what did we get exactly? A decent voyager two with TWO boxes. Woo.
OK, so that is a bit disingenuous as I do think this is a solid choice for a none-Masterpiece/Third Party Blitzwing, especially that robot mode. And yes there are compromises but I do think it edges out his previous efforts. Though with the Thrilling 30 Blitzwing and his wank shoulders, horrible transformation, weak alt forms and general flimsy build, that isn’t hard. But this is just wonderful. The paint, the face detail, the stance and the silhouette are absolutely 100% Blitzwing.
That said bot mode does have an issue with articulation. Though he has most of the ones we’ve come to expect from the latest CHUG lines (ankles, waist etc), his shoulder cannot move far at all. There are flaps at the pauldrons that let him extend it straight ahead, but he can’t put his arms far back at all due to his backpack and there’s no ability to put his arms over his head at all due to the aforementioned shoulder with don’t feature any rotation. You can still pull off a decent pose but he won’t be “raising his hands in the air like he lacks caution” as the kids say.
Accessories wise old Blitzo (the o is silent) comes with two guns and a very nicely painted sword which all have good storage on his back in bot mode. Oh, but what are you getting for your extra Leader price point? Two boxes with red liquorice sticking out. These are dumb. Very dumb. You put these Energon Fists on his hands and he looks about ready to take on Spongebob in a karate match.
Moving on from these stupid things in a hurry, transforming him into his other modes is fairly complex without crossing over into the realm of complicated or fiddly. It’s fun to do which I think is essential for a triple changer, though as with many of his three-way brethren, one mode always looks worse than the others. And as usual with Blitzkrieg, it’s the jet mode.
OK, honestly I don’t think it looks too bad. Yeah, it’s as aerodynamic as a wet sack of hammers, but it looks quite close to his original G1 toy jet mode. It’s very squat and solid looking. If this thing did get off the ground with the assistance of magic, I doubt enemy anti-air fire could dent it.
You can stick the Energon mitts on the back as boosters if you hate yourself.
Tank mode though? Far better.
I honestly think this is the best-looking take mode we’ve gotten for Blitzy Mc Blitzwing. Yes, it has a jet cockpit sticking out the front, not unlike his G1 toy, but everything else? Wonderful. Lovely detailing on the side armour and treads, a turret that can spin AND raise its barrel? On a Blitzwing? WHAT IS THIS WITCHCRAFT? Plus the Energon oven gloves don’t look too bad when adapted into the missiles racks for this mode. So yeah, the tank is the better of the vehicles.
That said, does it edge out the previous effort? Titans Returns? Or rather the superior Japanese Legends version that didn’t have those fucking awful stickers? If you had to twist my arm, I’d say yes, but in fairness, let’s do a quick comparison.
Bot modes. I think Legacy edges it, but going by size I can see why people would find that hard to believe. Yes, Legacy is smaller, but the plastic is far more solid. He feels like a wall compared to Legends, which dues to his design and transformation always felt a little lighter than he should to me. Close one and I can see people landing on either side but for me it’s legacy.
Jet modes. The Legends toy wins this hands down. I mean…just look at them. No contest so I won’t waste more words. NEXT.
Tank modes. I gotta had it to Legacy here. The tank mode always felt off to me for Legends, mainly as you have nowhere to store the head in this mode and that weedy barrel, it never felt or looked tough enough to be a tank. More like a very crap mobile support gun with terrible crew protection. Legacy though? Looks great despite the cockpit and feels well put together. I feel like I could chuck this thing and it would dent a wall.
So yeah I like Legacy Blitzwing and I think this is his best CHUG toy, all things taken into account. He doesn’t quite get to Siege Astrotrain’s level and the gap between him and T30 Springer is more of a chasm, but a solid effort.
Legacy Voyager Bulkhead Review
So been a while since I did a “proper” review. I’ll be honest I just couldn’t be bothered with the whole “think up jokes for images that tend to be the same over and over again” schtick. But I do want to start again so let’s just see where this goes alright?
And to that let’s have a look at Legacy Bulkhead.
When Hasbro announced they’d be bringing non-G1 characters to G1 I was pleasantly surprised. I hope the rumoured Prime Knock Out is true because his original toy is shite. I was less enthused about Bulkhead as I had recently acquired the Prime 1st Edition from a friend for the princely sum of absolutely fuck all. But I got a bonus from work so I thought I’d pick him up as everyone was going on about how good he is, and you know what? He’s pretty good! But not without flaws.
As a G1 interpretation of the character, it works…to a point. Legacy’s whole schtick is MULTI-DIMENSIONAL SHENANIGANS, which has always been kinda a thing for the franchise, or at least the convention stuff. Anyway, for Bulkhead that beans he becomes less round, squarer. And while it does work…it also feels like he’s become a generic bot. The only thing that screams “PRIME” about him is the head sculpt, with the trademark orthodontist frightening underbite. You could honestly just have put any head on this body, slapped an under-utilised name on it and I would have bought it as pretty much anyone.
But hey, it works, and the accessories are fun enough. Generic gun, “riot shield” and Bulkhead’s trademark hand-mace thing. He’s got a great amount of articulation, which is one thing he has over the 1st edition in spades. Bonus is they look pretty damn good next to each other.
The transformation is more involved than I thought it would be. I saw the design and thought “That’s gonna be an “ Optimus Prime alike,” in that the legs become the back and the arms tuck into the cab. And while that is mostly true, the leg transformation is far more involved than I suspected. It s fun to go back and forth with, and you can keep the canopy/shield on his back during the entire thing.
The truck mode is neat, very military-esque and square. Again, kinda generic but very serviceable. I do like how you can store the weapons in the back. Good weapons storage is always a plus for me.
Overall, I do like Bulkhead, despite the flaws. I think he works better on my mixed Wreckers shelf (which contains a couple of non G1 guys) than Prime Bulks. I can sorta imagine this guy as mid-war Wreckers member Bulkhead, all tooled up, ready to crush some Cons. Whereas Prime Bulkhead is a post-war Bulkhead. He’s let himself go a little sure, but still a mound of muscle…or whatever robots have for muscles. Hydraulics?
He also looks great with RTS Lugnut in a fight scene.
There’s a “grabbing balls” joke here but that joke is a bit low brow. Which reminds me! Here’s a mini-review of a Quintesson judge I picked up for £5.
It looks like a butt-plug.
Planet X Vulcun Review
So, I love Grimlock. I mean, how can I not? He’s a tough as nails robot that turns into a fire breathing Tyrannosaurus Rex. While he might have problems speaking, he’s got the personality of a time-bomb stuck on “00:01”, gives authority the finger and could punch out Megatron if he felt like it…at least that’s how I’ve viewed him. This primarily based on his comic incarnations because…well, he’s not got that consistent of a personality across the mediums, has he? He goes from badass yet intelligent barbarian in the comics to downright stupid comic relief in the G1 and animated cartoons. Then in other incarnations, we go to way too upbeat motivational speaker in Cyberverse, slightly smarter dim-witted comic relief in RiD2015 to straight-up goddamn DOG in the live-action movies. And to top it all off I would argue most of his toys aren’t really up to much either. OK, the original G1 toy gets a pass because it was the first, but there’s always been something off with them afterwards. Maybe it’s too small and not really “right” looking in robot mode like his otherwise rather good Classics version, or it’s big and looks right, but is a bit floppy like his Masterpiece version, or it’s just had to sacrifice everything good about it for the line-wide gimmick ala the Power of the Primes voyager. Everything is compromised and just not quite right.
And then we come to the 2012 voyager, based on Grimlock’s appearance in the excellent Fall of Cybertron. Hit by a budget crunch that screwed up probably the best G1 based design in years. It took the old anatomically incorrect G1 mode and ran it through the Jurassic Park filter and I loved it. Plus, they gave him a decently developed personality, some of the best levels in the game and only used the “ME GRIMLOCK” talking when it was appropriate. When a toy was announced I jumped on it. Hell, I still own two versions of that thing because while it is very much a compromised vision, it was the only version of that design I could get my hands on.
UNTIL NOW.
Well, I say “until now” but I’ve been after this guy since he came out five years ago. This is when I started getting really into collecting but before I jumped into the “Yeah I can drop over £100 on a toy and justify it to myself” stage of collecting with 3rd Parties. I mean, I had Voyager Grim, he was…fine. If you squinted. But oh man, Vulcun (and it is VulCUN, not VulCAN, check the box) made me salivate. Reviews came up and he looked amazing…but I couldn’t justify the cost. And by the time I could, he was sold out everywhere and a right Vulcunt (geddit?) to get on the second-hand market. It seemed I would never own him. But then Planet X reissued him in 2019!
And he sold out immediately. Bugger.
But then, after my birthday, I was looking at www.showzstore.com and looked at their flash sale page…and there he was. 2019 reissue Vulcun. At 20% off. And I had just gotten a load of money for said birthday. SCORE! And then literally minutes after I got my order in…he sold out. I had gotten one of the last ones! Yes, the shipping was delayed by a few weeks because of the Coronavirus, but I had waited 5 years! Another couple of weeks wouldn’t kill me. And when he did arrive, I got a massive shock. See, I had ordered the regular version, as that’s what ShowZ had listed…BUT THEY SENT ME THE ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS METALLIC VERSION.
I may have had a sex wee.
So anyway…he’s phenomenal. Honestly, there are no two ways about it, this guy lives up to the hype and exceeds my expectations. I mean…just look at him. He’s a damn near perfect rendition of the character from the game. OK yes, his head is hanging off his back…but most Grimlocks do that anyway. The detail in the sculpt, is beautiful, accentuated by the metallic paint. And then you factor in the articulation, which has enough bends and swivels so you can get him in pretty much every pose under the sun. And let me tell you, his sheer presence makes even the most mundane stance look amazing.
There are a few little “issues”. Maybe his hands could have done with a separate articulation for his index finger, allowing more expression. Maybe he could have come with a few more accessories as well, but that would have possibly meant his sword and shield would have to be smaller and quite frankly I’ll take weapons longer than a character’s arm over a crown and apron any day of the week.
Possibly the only real issue is his size. See, he costs roughly the same as MP08 Grimlock but…
So yeah there’s that, but in every other aspect, he outshines MP08. I love the Masterpiece but it’s always felt a little…ropey to me. Everything is floppier than it should be, and the way the chest kinda just sit’s on top of a spine assembly and doesn’t feel secure, always let it down. Dino-mode works better and it’s the mode I keep him in most of the time. However…
Yeah, this kick’s MP08’s arse.
Though that’s not exactly fair. MP08 is going for the G1 toon accuracy with the upright “guy in a Godzilla suit” stance, and it pulls it off well. But this guy? He takes the slightly more accurate video game T-Rex mode and throws in enough articulation to make it work. But if I had to choose…
It’s amazing how well articulated he is in this mode and how expressive he can be. You can even pull his huge head out further from the neck to allow extra upwards and side to side movement. Add to that the tail articulation and you get the best bloody dino-mode I have ever seen on a Transformer. Hell, he even has a massive flamethrower/tongue in his mouth, and his robot mode knee-pads become his rocket boosters from the game! Yes, the weapons storage is a bit naff but honestly? Are you going to want to block your view of his magnificent legs?
That came out wrong. (No, it didn’t)
And getting to this mode is quite fun as well. The transformation is complex enough to be fun, without being too simple. Yes, there’s a bit where you have to move the tails parts over the legs that will cause trepidation the first time you do it, but as he’s been constructed with that in mind once you get past that initial “Oh shit will I break this thing” moment it becomes acceptable and second nature.
I’ve waited a long time for this guy to show up, and he does not disappoint. If you get the chance I would 100% recommend you get him. The real problem I have now is deciding which mode to display him in.
Yeah, probably dino-mode.
Earthrise Voyager Starscream
OK let’s get this out of the way. Yes, Earthrise Starscream shares a lot of DNA, metaphorically speaking, with the good old 2006 deluxe guy. The one that holds up somewhat well today, 14 goddamn years after it’s release. Yes, he doesn’t have oversized missile launches (which thank God cos I probably would have lost the sodding missiles a dozen times by now). He’s got pretty much the same amount of articulation but moves two points to a more useful area, he’s bigger, and his nose cone isn’t attached to his head limiting the articulation. I like him more than deluxe. OK got that? Can we move on now?
ANYWAY, so finally got my hands on this guy. I got him because he’s Starscream. Do you like Decepticon jets? You gotta like Starscream. I was prepared to be a bit underwhelmed by him, but to nick a joke from Young Justice, I was very much whelmed. Not overwhelmed, I would say a perfectly sufficient amount of whelming was had.
It’s been a long time since we’ve had an F-15 Starscream look this good. The paint is lovely, though prone to chipping on the crotch, the colours are vibrant, he’s got the perfect silhouette. Honestly, it just works. I was unsure if I preferred the proportions of this guy to the 2006 deluxe but I think it works better. I also gotta say the plastic used for this guy is really solid. When I first got my hands on him, it felt kinda odd. Like not grainy or anything but very different to other plastics used. But it’s dense and shows the sculpted details really well. Also, as a bit of w weird thing, he has absolutely zero screws in him. Every joint is pinned…which might make doing customs of this guy a pain in the arse, but in that case it’s a good thing I have the artistic ability of a blind man in a blacked-out basement at 1 am.
So, everyone’s compared this guy to 2006 Starman for about 3 billion years now, but I think it’s fairer to compare him to the other recent voyager Starscream from Siege.
So, in terms of looks…well they both look like G1 Starscream. I like them both but since like, 80% of their deco and proportions are the same it’s kinda hard to pick one, so that’s really gonna come down to personal preference. I like ‘em both but Earthrise scratches the G1 itch more. However, Siege Starscream does have more articulation. Not by much, but what he does have makes a difference. The butterfly joint lets you get him in a more natural one-armed shooting poses…if you can use the term “natural” for describing a plastic robot. He’s also got the waist swivel, even if it is limited, double-jointed elbows and a wrist swivels. So, if you want a “better” robot mode, you go for Siege Screamer. Plus, in fairness, he doesn’t have giant gaps in the sides of his torso.
That said, Earthrise Starscream does have enough articulation to do most basic good poses. And they both have articulated wings for a reason I still can’t fathom. Technically Siegescream has more articulated wings, but they both feel a bit pointless to me. I’m sure someone will get some use out of them though.
However, when you transform ER Starscream (played by George Clooney) you see where the work went on this guy. Where’ as the Siege toy pretty much just turned Starscream into a cube under a pair of wings (and stuck his chest on his back), this tucks everything away nicely. Most aspects are very much 2006 deluxe yes, but there’s a bit more to it. A small amount tweaks to how things get tucked away and it’s slightly more involved. And the results? Well just LOOK at it!
This is a goddamn gorgeous rendering of Starscream’s F-15 mode. The detail on the top of the jet is picked out wonderfully and he feels solid. He’s also the perfect size for swooshing around, at least in my meaty man-child hands. Honestly, I have no complaints.
So overall, this is the best official version of Starscream to date, and I include the Masterpiece in that. True others may look better subjectively, have more articulation and so forth, but this thing is the whole goddamn package. Solidly built, looks great in both modes, works with the Siege effects parts and has a fun, involved transformation.
Now I just gotta wait for them to do Thundercracker and Skywarp…goddammit, Hasbro did it again didn’t they?
Maketoys Buster Skywing Review
Look I’m not going to wank on about the character’s name changing origins, but I will say Jetfire has been one of my low-key fave Autobots for a while. I loved the Generations toy from 2006 and was very sad when I left it on a windowsill and forgot about it for months so it yellowed to all hell. I was very happy with the Thrilling 30 version even if he had lost some mass, though gained height. It also made me get two more versions of it when the seeker moulds came out.
I did not like the look of the new Siege one.
If you do, great! But to me, that wasn’t Jetfire. That was Skyfire. The boxy as fuck jet from the cartoon who existed only because of reasons that are hidden by a load of copyright law and legal jargon that I do not want to bother looking into. The idea of a character who changed from Con to Bot is a good concept and I like how that has carried over to the Jetfire name, but I could never get behind the design. I always liked the Macross Valkyrie design and one day I might get around to buying one. But the latest Jetfire didn’t scratch that quasi-anime itch I like.
However, Maketoys Buster Skywing is anime as fuck
Buster Skywing comes from our good friends, Maketoys. Another one of their Cross Dimension line that gave us the sublime Rioter Despotron I reviewed a while back. Though he wasn’t my first choice. I originally intended to get the black repaint (that came out first) Buster Stealthwing and make him a Decepticon. However, then Transbridge Omegalock put this guy on sale for £66 and my wife got him for me as an early birthday present. So, a) I LOVE HERE, and b) I’ve come to think the original Skyfire colours suit this guy far better. The bright white and red really make him seem more anime than the black and make him pop a lot more. I’m getting a Tallgeese from Gundam Wing vibe from him.
God, I’m such a weeb.
Anyway, Skywing comes pack to the gills with articulation, including a visor that can fold over his face. And he is BIG. The guy is only slightly shorter than the Thrilling 30 leader Jetfire but has far more mass. He’s made of good solid plastic and all his joints are tight…sometimes too tight, but we’ll get to that in a bit. One of my favourite bits or articulation is the wing tops. While I keep them folded up in bot mode to shave on shelf space, the proper way is to flip them out. It took me a while to decide on a look and I decided to fold them in when I couldn’t stop thinking of him as some kind of giant anime mecha-peacock.
Accessories wise he doesn’t come with much, just his guns and backpack and boosters…but that’s because he is pretty much an accessory pack himself. You can take bits of him apart and stick them on any version of Maketoys Cross Dimension Optimus Prime mould…which I don’t own.
But I do own Legendary Toys KO version of their Striker Noir! Aka Nemesis Prime aka the guy I use as RiD 2001 Scourge. That should work right!?
It did not.
So, the KO Striker Noir is a good toy on his own, good joints tolerances etc…but due to it being a KO all the ports required for this feature are either just a bit too big or not in quite the right place and it becomes a floppy mess. Hell, I couldn’t even get the shoulder pads to stay on. It’s a shame as looking at when it’s used with a legitimate copy it holds together far better. I didn’t buy it for the combined mode, so the KO Noir works fine for me. But if you want the interactivity, I would recommend you get the proper versions.
(If you’re wondering I bought the KO it’s the proper version mould was sold out everywhere at the time….and it was less than half the price. And don’t give me shit about buying a KO of a 3rd Party toy cos we’ll be here all day with me pointing out all 3rd Party toys infringe on the HasTak copyright. We good?)
Anyway, on to the jet mode! Which is easier said than done. The first time I transformer this guy it was terrifying. There are some loud noises being made from the ratchets and tabs…and that then turned to frustration with the back end. He’s one of those guys that you have to get 100% dead on and if one bit is out and you try to force it, it causes something else to pop out. I’ve got it mostly worked out now, but it can still be a faff.
The results though? Nice.
It’s a Quin-Jet, with massive guns/rocket boosters on it and is lovely. Plus it has articulation! Not only do the wingtips move, but a good chunk of the jet intakes and exhausts can move independently, giving him pose-ability in vehicle mode, however minor. He can look very dynamic for a flying brick.
There are some small QC issues to be aware of, like how the rear landing struts/heels are screwed in on one side, but just slotted on the over with a small peg in place for rotation…which has been known to break off. It does not affect the toy at all when it does this and they stay in o place because of the slot anyway, but it happened to mine and I’ve seen others mention it as well so you should be aware. But overall, I think this is a brilliant stand-alone figure. Who knows? I might get the black version as well if I see him at a good price, but I think this guy looks a lot better in white. A great toy and a wonderful gift from my wife.
Mastermind Creations Kultur, aka Big Tarn.
So, a while ago I did a review of Iron Factory’s Dubhe, their take on IDW’s Tarn. In it I mentioned that despite its flaws I was happy with it and satisfied I had an alternative to Mastermind Creations Kultur that didn’t cost the earth.
Then someone decided to sell their Kultur for £65, so here we are!
So MMC Tarn then? Not gonna lie, he’s made my top five 3rd party figures already, though his final placing is still in flux at the moment. See, MMC tend to go their own way in terms of aesthetics for a lot of their figures. In theory, a lot of them tend to lean towards IDW Alex Milne era of comics, but I’ve not found that to be 100% the case. They tend to add a lot of detail that doesn’t always work. My Sixshot is nice, but their Cyclonus doesn’t carry it as well. However, with Tarn, they seem to have really toned it down. To the point where this guy doesn’t seem that out of place next to CHUG figures.
It’s not that he’s lacking detail, it just seems to be used more effectively. I especially like the chest piece. With that said, he doesn’t quite match the design of the comics. It seems flatter, and less of a “living machine” aesthetic than Alex Milne managed to get across with his art. In that regard, Iron Factory does get that across a little better with its less blocky proportions and more dynamic colour palette. Though in fairness neither’s colour scheme is exactly spot one to the comics. MMC’s is more muted, but IF’S is a little too bright to be as accurate. One way to compare them is to compare the masks. While MMC’s is good, IF’s has the more angular and comic accurate sculpt. He’s perhaps not as dynamic as IF, but in fairness you had to swap Dubhe’s hands out to get him at his most expressive, so I can deal.
However, after saying all that I like both versions for different reasons, and they weirdly look good together.
Honestly, though I think I prefer Big Tarn overall. Yes, a lot of this is due to his size. But he just works so well at this scale. He’s bigger than a Hasbro Voyager, so he can suitably loom over a lot of bots, but he doesn’t look half bad next to pretty much any design aesthetic, even the bigger Masterpiece bots. A favourite of mine to pose him with is Maketoys Rioter Despotron. Even though Tarn’s sculpting is more muted I think it works well with Despotron’s anime-inspired design.
As above, Tarn’s “real” head is Roller. The guy everyone thought he was going to be because James Roberts likes to troll his fans. Is this MMC betting on the result early (as the toy was released before the reveal of his actual identity) or just using it because Tarn shares a lot of parts and engineering with their Roller. And their Thunderclash. And…you get the point. That is still a minor bugbear since my review of their Cyclonus, making a mould that gets used a lot rather than being suitable for the character. But hey, this works well for Tarn. Plus, Hasbro has made an entire franchise that so it’s fair game.
Aside from the mask Tarn comes with his double fusion cannons, which can peg on the tank mode turret piece to rest on his farm or come apart to be handheld. They even swivel on their axis so you can position them to be more comic accurate.
He also has missiles in his feet.
Articulation wise it’s what you would expect of a £90 3rd party toy, including a good ab crunch and toe bends. This means you can get some really good poses, though his shoulder does get in the way of his cannons and vice versa so it can be a bit of a faff to pose those right. Also, because of how solidly built he is, which surprised me due to how MMC’s Cyclonus is well known for breaking, he holds all of them well without much support. That’s another plus for him against Dubhe, who had a LOT of QC issues on his first release, still has others that hope up. I ended up having to get new arms from Iron Factory directed because the socket straight-up snapped making them loose as hell. I don’t see that happening with Kultur at all.
Another plus is the transformation, which is a lot simpler than I’ve come to expect from this level of 3rd party. Hell, it’s actually easier than Dubhe! And the results are good.
So, this is not really that accurate to Tarn’s tank mode in the comic, again due to the fact that this mode is three other guys as well. If you want a more accurate tank mode, we gotta go to Iron factory again. But that said, Kultur doesn’t have his hands sticking out the back.
As you can see, he also has some extra features. Those toe missiles make a lot more sense with how his feet end up in vehicle mode (and aren’t glued in so be careful when the hatches are open), and he also has some sculpted grenade/rocket launchers just under where you peg the fusion cannon/turret. If you want him to be a bit more comic accurate, you can angle the chest piece downwards but it makes the thing seem less cohesive. I mean, he’s a tank he should be a big solid block of steel and this gets that across.
So yeah, MMC Kultur is brilliant and definitely worth getting. I was very lucky to get him for the price I did, as unless MMC do another reissue, you’re not gonna get him for less than £100 on the secondary market, most likely more. Does he replace Iron Factory? To a degree, but I still like the Lil’ guy too. And frankly, it’s a lot easier to get the entire DJD from them instead of MMC. Plus they combine. However, if like me, you just wanted Tarn either is a good choice, but I’d have to go with the big guy overall.
War for Cybertron Siege: Deluxe Impactor Review
So originally, I was going to do my next review on Siege Brunt who is definitely my fave of the weaponizers. Then Impactor turned up in the UK and quite frankly my thoughts haven’t been on another toy since then. Part of it is that we finally have a general retail version of one of the most famous characters from the UK Transformers Marvel comic. The other is that he is rather good.
I was born the year after Transformers started so I was too young to get introduced to him properly in the comics, but being the leader of the legendary Wreckers before Springer meant he left an impact on young UK minds. To the point where Nick Roche and James Roberts brought him back to the public consciousness in the brilliant Last Stand of the Wreckers story. Here Impactor is portrayed as a violent “shoot first don’t bother asking questions” leader of the same group, to the point where he straight up committed war crimes. Since then he’s had a few toy appearances in con exclusive sets and one of the more sought after 3rd Party figures in MasterMind Creations Spartan, but now it feels like Hasbro is like “No give us your money” on a lot of characters 3rd parties have been providing fans for years. Hell, Impactor gets 2 releases, one as a Decepticon in a 3 pack with a clear blue Mirage, and Aragon (a repaint of Cog and not a Lord of the Rings character). That version has a more IDW head, but also costs 3 times as much and includes 2 characters I don’t want, so I went with the standard retail version, and I am not disappointed.
Impactor looks fantastic in robot mode. The yellow and purple work really well, being complementary colours, and that head sculpt is fantastic. Yeah, I may have preferred the IDW one but this works a little better with the more block proportions of the toy. He’s broad, square, and feels like a wall came to life and wanted to start kicking people’s heads in. Well, several guns. Coming with his main cannon, which becomes his tank turret, and his pistol which doubles as his traditional harpoon. You can flip either of his hands in and peg it on the stump as I do here, but it’s great to have the option. Combine those with his shoulder cannon and this guy looks ready to break things. Or wreck them, if you will. His articulation is, as with most Siege toys, fantastic, featuring pretty damn near everything except wrist rotation. His “waist” articulation is technically absent, as he actually rotates at the chest, allowing the same movement, but slightly odd-looking when sued. However, there is a reason for that which I will get in to later.
One thing that put some people off the toy when he was initially revealed was the hollow legs. It’s something that we’ve seen more and more in Hasbro Transformers lately, thought Siege seemed to be doing well there. However, when I put Impactor next to other deluxe, the reasons become clear. Thanks to those gaps, Hasbro used the plastic it leaves over to make him bigger than most over deluxe toys. He’s roughly a head taller than his compatriots and gives some recent voyager sized toys a run for their money. Hell, he even doesn’t look that bad next to Thrilling 30 “Lanky Boy” Springer, appropriately.
Transforming Impactor is fun and intuitive, and reveals one of the best tank modes for a while from a deluxe. Actually, make that for any size tank guy, as due to that odd chest articulation, he features a fully rotating turret and a gun that can aim up and down. This is something I don’t think we’ve seen since any size class tank transformer since deluxe Warpath in 2011. Oh wait, no Brunt can do that too! OK yes for Impactor it is mainly because of his gun connects in tank mode, and Brunt is essentially a bunch of weapons and armour stuck together to vaguely resemble something that might be a tank if you squint, but still, good job Siege!
Overall, I’d definitely recommend Impactor. He’s got a great presence, great articulation and a fun transformation, definitely one of Siege top 5 toys in my opinion.
War for Cybertron: Siege Voyager Springer
So originally, I was going to do another comparison review like my recent Optimus Prime one, comparing this new Siege Springer toy to his previous Generations counterpart…but honestly, that’s a bit unfair to the new guy. To me, thrilling 30 Springer beats it in pretty much every category except one. Looking like the G1 toy version.
So while I will be occasionally referring to Thrilling 30 dude, I’m going to try and assess Siege Springer on his own merits.
Anyway, so Springer gets only his third toy where he is actually a triple changer, and it hearkens back to his routes and is based on the original toy, which I had as a kid. This was my main drive in getting one. He was one of the few complete Transformers I had and I was fascinated by the triple changer concept…even if he was probably the worst example of its problems. I mean his car and helicopter modes were distinguished by one being longer than the other and having a sword attached to it or not.
Speaking of which, Siege Springer manages to have far more articulation than the G1 toy or the T30 voyager (just). He’s gotten pretty much everything we’ve come to expect from the Siege guys and can do all the poses…to a point.
While the rest of him can hold a pose fine, his ankle tilts are a bit hit and miss. They’re the main piece of articulation that the T30 guy did not have and it’s nice to have them, but these ankles seem to have a lot of trouble holding him up, even in a basic standing pose. You can balance him on them, but don’t be surprised if he tips forwards or backwards once or twice until you find the sweet spot.
Accessories wise he comes with some nice guns, two swords…and a thingy. Described as a “turret” by the instructions, it’s the bit you shove the swords in to become the helicopter rotors. This is dumb and there must have been a way to do this better, even if you wanted to have two swords rather than the T30 guy’s brilliant splitting sword. He’s covered in ports so the guns have places to go, and there are even some tabs that you can (loosely) put the swords on his back, but this has nowhere to really hide it without it being a bit daft. Doesn’t help that the backpack doesn’t really tab in anywhere either so it can flop off and hang off his arse like some kind of heavily armed remora fish. That said you can have him going with duels words which is always fun.
Transformation to both modes is on the one hand, really fun, and on the other, terrifying. No matter which mode you go to there’s a lot of lining up tabs, and hoping said tabs don’t break because some of those fuckers are tight. In fact, when going to helicopter form you kinda have to try and line up everything as well as possible and just squeeze it all together and pray something doesn’t break.
Chopper mode is my favourite for a lot of reasons. It looks great. If a flying box can look “great” everything fits together well and there’s a place for every one of his accessories to go. Hell, there’s even grooves on this wings/weapon mounts to allow the gun that has weapon tabs for the swords to sit flush (which I’m fairly sure I didn’t in the photo above but can’t be bothered taking it again). I mean yes I prefer the Thrilling 30 design which looks more like an actual helicopter (if you squint) but this is a really good modernised version of the G1 design.
Joking aside, this is actually a pretty good Cybertronian car mode for Springer and there are more steps to get to this than you think. The legs pretty much flip horizontal and fold in and themselves and you reposition the shoulder and flip and push the weapon mounts in to make it more compact while moving the front wheels further forward. Works far better than the original did of convincing me that this is a third mode and not something the designers pulled out of their arse. Unfortunately, the weapon storage is just plain daft There are tabs for the swords and plenty of gun ports, yes. But there’s nowhere for the marine radar on it, or you stick the weapons together to form…well, take a look.
Yeah, it ain’t great. I mean yes the Thrilling 30 guy had a similar thing with its friction missile launcher, but it didn’t spin freely and somehow looked far more cohesive than it should have done. You can improve the look of this by removing the spinning section and just plug it in with the rear guns 5mm peg. Though it means you’ve still got nowhere to put the rotor assembly, which is a big no-no. What can I say? Bad weapon storage is a turn off for me.
Overall, Siege Springer is a good toy but has some issues that might put some people off getting him. I can see arguments for not bothering with him if you prefer the Thrilling 30 version, but this one has plenty more positives than negatives, alongside the fact he is far closer to the G1 original. If I can have 20 plus G1 looking Megatrons sharing a shelf, I can have two Springers next to each other.
Magic Square Space Skimming Review
So, after reviewing a 3rd Party Cyclonus, what should I review next? I ask twitter.
They said a different 3rd party Cyclonus so here we are.
So as previously mentioned in my Iron Factory Dubhe/Tarn review, the Legends size class has become another battleground for companies to fight in, as people start running out of room for multiple versions of a Masterpiece Megatron. The main two I am aware of are, of course, Iron Factory, who dabble almost exclusively in the size class, and DX9 who are mainly known for their Masterpiece scale stuff. Magic Square is a relative newcomer on the scene, starting in the Legends before recently going in for the Masterpiece scale with their cartoon accurate Optimus Prime mould and making an impression. I wasn’t really aware of them previously, but then I saw their Cyclonus, or rather their “Space Skimming,” I jumped at it. And for his size, he (mostly) doesn’t disappoint. Especially in robot mode.
Honestly, this guy has no business look as good as he does in bot mode. He seems to get the cartoon proportions right. His main purple plastic is a little bluer than I’d like, but it does seem fairly close to the movie and animation model they were going for. I like the face with its little painted goatee. In fact, most of the paint is done really well, and I can’t find a single smudge or buggered up bit anywhere. In addition, he has some gorgeous red light piping for his eyes. Honestly, there’s not a lot to say apart from “he looks good.”
He also trumps pretty much any non-Masterpiece Cyclonus (official or not) in terms of articulation as well. While his head is on a simple swivel, all the essential stuff is here. Arm swivel, (slightly loose) waist swivel, shoulders, elbows, thigh rotation etc. But he also manages to throw in slight ankle title and an ab crunch. What this means is that he can out-dab his contemporaries quite easily.
He is rather lacking in accessories, only coming with a single gun, but you can tell the budget was well spent elsewhere for this guy.
Not really on the vehicle mode though…
Well in fairness at this size there’s only so much you can do with a non-standard jet mode, but he does seem to have sacrificed a lot for the bot mode. DX9’s smaller legends class Cyclonus is technically a worse toy because it has less articulation, a less involved transformation and doesn’t look as close to the G1 character as this guy does, but the jet mode feels far better because it’s a lot more cohesive. I mean, look at these two and tell me which one is the more convincing jet?
The weirdest thing for me though Is that the cockpit seems rather large and out of proportion with the rest of him. Aside from that, it’s a half-decent effort. Just unfortunate that there’s nowhere to store his gun. The transformation itself is fairly good, though his shoulders can be a bit of a fiddle sometimes if you’re not careful. But then again considering the range of motion they allow him in bot mode, I think it’s more than worth the extra one second of attention you might need to pay to them.
Overall if you want a good Legends sized Decepticon, Space Skimming is a good choice that won’t break the bank. I got him for £22 on eBay and I think he was very much worth it.
ROBOT REVOLT 