Transformers

I really want the Masterpiece Soundwave set that has like 6 cassettes with him.  That thing looks awesome and does the one pose I always wished the vintage one could do but can't.... depress the button to eject a cassette.  That pose alone sells me on the MP version.  Well, that and the pummeling arms on Frenzy and Rumble.  😉  

 

Here's a sneak peek of tomorrows post:

 

"ACCKK!  There's a metal chicken on my head!  GET IT OFF MEEEE!!"

MP Soundwave is getting a reissue next month, but it's Takara's version, with just Laserbeak.  https://www.amiami.com/eng/detail/?gcode=TOY-RBT-2437

At about $120, you might be better off hitting eBay for the Hasbro Masterpiece Soundwave, with Laserbeak, Ravage, Rumble, Frenzy, and Buzzsaw for around $200-$225.  

Ratbat only comes with Soundblaster, the 'rebuilt' black repaint of Soundwave.  Very annoying.  

Oh, the MP cassettes are about the same size as the vintage ones!  So in most cases, you can stick vintage cassettes in MP Soundwave and vise versa.

Were any of you looking for reissue Hot Rod?  $19.99 this week at BBTS:  https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/75629

I got a few new TFs...

Fans Toys Hoodlum, their take on Masterpiece Hot Rod.

He's taller than MP-28/40.  Takara's version is better articulated, though.

Nice alt mode.

Next up is "Stubbom Buffet."

Pretty cool MP Hardhead.

Last, but certainly not least, is Optimus.  I haven't played around with everything yet, the trailer is still in the box.  I did transform him from cab to robot without the instructions, a sign of a decent, not overly engineered transformation, in my opinion.  Once I get the chance I'll get in depth with MP-44.  So far, I'm very pleased.  I do think MS-01X is about as good, just lacking in gimmicks and accessories, so there's really no wrong choice here.  

Hardhead looks so good!  He was one of my faves as a kid.  

I want the regular MP Hot Rod, he has the coolest accessories with him.  I saw the newer Targetmaster release but since he doesn't have the buzzsaw hand, the fishing pole or the drop down eye visor, I don't want him.  I'll find the original MP Hot Rod eventually.

 

 

Billy

8 hours ago, baldylox said:

Hardhead looks so good!  He was one of my faves as a kid.  

I want the regular MP Hot Rod, he has the coolest accessories with him.  I saw the newer Targetmaster release but since he doesn't have the buzzsaw hand, the fishing pole or the drop down eye visor, I don't want him.  I'll find the original MP Hot Rod eventually.

 

 

Billy

https://www.ebay.com/itm/YesModel-YM12-Stubbom-Buffet-MP-Hard-head-action-figure-toy-New-instock/162900157285?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Hardhead is very affordable.  

I'm pretty sure MP-28 Hot Rodimus isn't too hard to find.  I think BBTS has him, and they turn up on Manda, too.  The fishing pole and buzzsaw are great accessories.  The visor piece is also on the Targetmaster version, the head flips open and it can be folded out.  

I braved Walmart...

I'm trying to convince myself I just need that Hasbro Pulse Dino-cassettes and Frenzy set, not the Laserbeak/Frenzy 2pk.  

Buzzsaw's guns are short!  I'm disappointed by this, Optimus had full smokestacks.  Soundwave's missile launcher doesn't work either, but that's not surprising.  

Nice grabs Galvatim!  I also noticed the laser guns were super short on these guys and it's a bit annoying.  But it's not really a big deal since everything else looks so darn good with them all. 

 

 

Billy

Added the labels.

I like that Soundwave (along with Optimus and Hot Rod) can be placed back in his box.  Hot Rod doesn't even need the plastic ties cut off.

I really need to replace my MP-09.  I should dig out the rest of my Hot Rod/Rodimus collection, too.

image-20190913_190834 by Tim Solberg, on Flickr

I have quite a few photos of MP-44 on my Flickr.  No vehicle mode yet, I haven't worked up the courage to transform him back yet. 

Tiny Soundwaves.

Any thoughts on opening Ravage and Rumble?  I might just go back and get another set, along with the Laserbeak/Frenzy two pack to leave on card.  I looked up Rumble on eBay, and loose ones are going for around $20.  

Bias up front, I've never been overly fond of Rumble/Frenzy.  I don't have anything against them. I do feel they're part of an iconic Soundwave set.  It's just that I've always felt they weren't terribly interesting.

Rumble and Frenzy were fragile even back in the day.  They were the first of my original G1 figures to break.  They don't stand up to transformation well.  Until the re-release, I hadn't owned intact G1 Rumble/Frenzy since the 80s.

I can't be 100% sure, but the remake Rumble/Frenzy seem vastly more fragile.  The arms in particular feel like they're going to flake apart while moving them.  I noticed they're only glued/welded on one side instead of both, and that's probably why they feel so flimsy.  I don't feel Rumble and Frenzy are figures I can transform with any regularity, for fear of breaking them.

So my advice is that unless you just really want to do something with them, to leave Rumble and Frenzy alone.  And if you do open and transform them, be ULTRA careful.

As for Ravage, I've see reports of him splitting apart.  I think the cause of this is when people plug is missiles in too far and then try to pull them out.  The missiles plug in very tight.  They stay so securely there's no need to jam them in.

I haven't had any issues with my new Ravage.  I've played with the figure a bit, but not extensively.  I'd say Ravage is safe for casual handling.

Ravage is pretty fun too.  He's the most posable of the cassetticons with all the joints on his legs. 

What I'd do is open Ravage and play, but leave Rumble alone.

@Gabriel, thanks for the advice.  I went to another local Walmart today, no cassettes to be found.  Ended up grabbing car Dropkick at Target instead.  I have a loose Ravage from the reissue Soundblaster I bought quite some time back.  These current reissues seem less durable than the ones Takara was putting out, Buzzsaw felt rubbery.  I take it Rumble and Frenzy have the same pop out head gimmick as Eject and Rewind, which never worked.  

Sounds like Mastermind Creations has a Masterpiece style Defensor/Protectobot set in development, as part of the Ocular Max line.  I had Hot Spot as a kid, along with a smattering of the Scramble City combiner limbs:  Groove, First Aid, Fireflight, Skydive, Nosecone, Breakdown and Wildrider, so I could kind of assemble Defensor.  I haven't bought any of MMC OX's Combaticons, I'm holding out hope for a Robots in Disguise 2001 Ruination redeco to go with my Fans Hobby RID Scourge, but they look nice.  

Car Dropkick?  I found him at Target a while back.  Very cool little figure.  He effortlessly passes the undercarriage test.  (Looking at the underside of vehicle mode doesn't reveal the robot.)  Another thing I like is how the arms have a similar transformation step to the helicopter version.  On both the forearms fold in on themselves in a particular way.  It's a nice way to make the two different figures feel similar.  I also really dig his car mode.  It makes me think of Mad Max's Interceptor.  (I know it isn't the same make or model, but that's what it reminds me of)

Great looking figure.  

And yep, Rumble/Frenzy have the same spring loaded head.  On my long gone originals, one of the pair had a head that would only halfway come up.  In robot mode he always looked like he was trying to do the turtle.  The remakes I have don't share that issue.  When I had them in robot mode, they had healthy enough springs to do the job.

I hadn't noticed the rubbery feeling you describe with the birds.  Still, they feel strange to me since they're all plastic.  The remaining G1 Laserbeak I've had for years is one of the early ones with a metal torso part.  So the all plastic ones are automatically going to feel weird.

 

After about 3 weeks, my order from Big Bad Toy Slow came in.

Address label torn off for the obvious reasons. 🙂

First up is Zeta Toys Jazzy / Toyworld Coolsville.

The first thing I did after taking him out from his box was to swap his stoic face with the open mouth one. As I mentioned in the Action Figures / Toys thread, having a face swap capability is an important feature to me.

I also bought some labels for him but I haven't had the opportunity to apply them yet.

The second item in the BBTS box was a plastic model kit and for once, it's not a Gundam. It's not a Macross kit either. It's topic relevant.

Based on initial impressions, he looks like he's going to be fun to build and paint. 😀

Mortini Racing

Relevant link, and random pic of Porsche 935:

24 minutes ago, cfx said:

Mortini Racing

I applied the labels so now everything says, "MARTINI RACING". 😅

The one label the sticker set doesn't include is something which corrects "DUNLOOP".

You got Zeta Jazzy?  I'm sorry...  The arm fell off mine.  It's not broken, but the screw came out, and it's very hard to reassemble.  The paint is flaking off in spots too, at the joints.  I've also never gotten the toy transformed into car mode, but not reading the instructions might be contributing to that.  

I picked up the Transform and Roll Out Agent Meister a few months back.  They went ahead and tampoed the logos on there.  

This Jazz really needs his shoulder launcher.  

I actually bought Generation Toy J4zz back when it came out.  My thought was this modern take would still fit my collection as a present day Jazz, with the classic G1 look as 80s Jazz, if Takara ever releases one.  

I added the Reprolabels kit as well.

I don't have Maketoys Downbeat, but I do have the Stepper/Ricochet redeco, with the Targetmaster.  No photos, it seems, I'll try to get some tomorrow.   

 

1 hour ago, Galvatim said:

You got Zeta Jazzy?  I'm sorry...  The arm fell off mine.  It's not broken, but the screw came out, and it's very hard to reassemble.

Don't be sorry for me. I'll explain below.

After I had a bit of difficulty trying to transform him into car mode, I tugged on one of his arms to undo the half-transformation I put him through and then it fell off. Once I reattached his arm (and I agree it's difficult to reassemble), I decided against transforming him, period.

 

1 hour ago, Galvatim said:

The paint is flaking off in spots too, at the joints.  I've also never gotten the toy transformed into car mode, but not reading the instructions might be contributing to that.

The paint started to scrape off his arms while I was trying to transform him. This and his arm falling off pretty much told me I shouldn't bother transforming him.

The manual is of poor quality and doesn't help much. It's not entirely useless but it still consists of having a poor set of instructions.

I pretty much knew he wasn't a very good figure overall when I made my purchase. I knew about him being difficult and not fun to transform. I made the purchase anyway because I'm going to repeat myself here... I wanted actors. Despite the faults I knew he had, he's actually pretty fun to pose in his robot mode. Him being permanently stuck in robot mode isn't such a bad thing under the circumstances. I've paid a lot more for various other toys/games/etc. in the past which turned out to be utter trash. Based on what I've experienced with posing him so far, I'm going to get a bit of use out from Jazzy/Coolsville. I know I'll get my money's worth here. This is why I said don't be sorry for me.

I still want to get Maketoys Downbeat but he's a lot harder to come by, is commanding a collector's premium from eBay sellers at the moment, and my recent experience with eBay pretty much says a purchase isn't an option. If one of the North American online retailers restocks a reissue of Downbeat, then I'll consider a purchase. Downbeat has facial expressions Jazzy/Coolsville doesn't have, so he can provide additional emotive options as a body double (as well as serve as a 'bot who is fun to transform).

Ah, yeah, if you just want a robot mode Jazz, Zeta is decent enough.  The TnR Meister has a weaker robot mode, but the car is nearly perfect, if you don't mind the fiddly transformation.  The Downbeat mold is the overall best, but it's expensive, like you say.  Even worse if you want the G2 version. 

Are you getting your Zeta Jazzy a skateboard, for the full Actionmaster homage?  (and if Maketoys happens to read this, Actionmaster/Marvel comics colors Downbeat, with blue in place of black, would be awesome.)

1 hour ago, Galvatim said:

Are you getting your Zeta Jazzy a skateboard, for the full Actionmaster homage?

I hadn't thought about this at all for a very good reason.

I didn't know what an Action Master is and had to look it up. Being released in 1990, that was a time period I paid zero attention to TF.

I considered the 1986 movie the ultimate middle finger at the time. I saw the subsequent TV episodes but the damage was done and there was no going back.

By the time the Action Masters came around in 1990, I already lost complete interest in TF. The only reason I got back into TF in the past few years was because of a local friend's influence.

So to answer your question, I have no plans for getting Jazzy a skateboard.

Ah, nothing wrong with that!  It's safe to say you missed what is the worst main line Transformers.  It was cool to get some of the characters again, but Actionmasters' lack of actual transformation was a low point, and the limited articulation was disappointing, coming from the same manufacturer as GI Joe.  

Anyway, I did take some photos of Maketoys' Bounceback, their redeco of Downbeat based on Targetmaster Stepper.

Along side his partner, Artfire.  These two were Japan only Targetmasters, based on Jazz and Inferno, back in 1987.  

Takara reissued Stepper in the mid-00s, and HGasbro included the reissue in their Toys R Us exclusive series under the name Ricochet.  

The Japanese Targetmasters were separate robots, rather than men in armor.  The Headmasters in Japan also were robots, but their vehicles/bodies were essentially super modesfor the small robot that turned into the head.  Masterforce, the series that included what we got in the States as Power Masters, switched out the small robots for people wearing armor/suits.  

I got that light up head set for MP-36.  It's cool enough that I may need to get another MP-36 that matches the color, as the THF one is off.  

I also broke down and ordered TE-01, so I'll have all four (five counting Power Baser) MP style Optimus Primes together.  I still think MS-01X is the right choice if you're only getting one, but it should be fun to compare them.  

 

I finished building the Optimus Prime plastic model kit pictured above.

I pondered going nuts over painting everything but I then asked myself a question. Do I want a display piece or am I going to make him do a lot of action poses? My answer was the latter so I kept painting to a minimum. I mostly used Gundam markers where I felt they would look better than applying stickers. For some places where I felt I didn't have a choice, I used the included stickers.

For the first three photos, I kept the arm shields off because I was waiting for the paint on them to dry. The fourth photo has Prime with the arm shields on.

While slightly shorter than Voyager Class SIEGE Optimus Prime, IDW kit Prime is still Voyager Class in size.

He was very fun to build. On Saturday night, instead of going to sleep, I stayed up to finish building him. 😅

That Optimus kit looks pretty good, @growcian!  I've been thinking about getting a few of these kits myself.  The full on action figures Flames Toys makes are really nice, too, but not worth the $300-$400 they cost.  I got to handle Tarn at TFCon last year.  

Speaking of TFCon, I got a print of Kei Zama's take on IDW Prime there.

I regret not stopping by her booth on Saturday, I would have ordered a commission of Galvatron.  

I took a few photos of the 4 MP style 3rd party Jazz figures together.

Got this cool Maketoys/Yes Model Chromedome, too.  He's almost as tall as MP-10/MP-44, though, which is just a bit too tall, in my opinion.  

Two-seater interior.  How is it there's no little Rewind to sit in the passenger seat?  

22 hours ago, Galvatim said:

That Optimus kit looks pretty good, @growcian!  I've been thinking about getting a few of these kits myself.

Instead of buying a few kits immediately, I would recommend buying just one for now. If you feel the experience of building was worthwhile after your first TF kit, then it's a safe bet to buy additional kits. I say this because that's what I did.

I originally wasn't sure whether buying the Flame Toys TF kits would be worth my money. IDW Prime was fun to build so now buying additional kits is a safe bet. I can't say the same will be the case for someone who hasn't built a Flame Toys TF kit yet. It would suck to buy 3+ kits only to discover your first kit wasn't fun to build.

Collecting Optimus Prime is like eating potato chips: you never stop at one.

Transform Element TE-01.  

I haven't transformed him yet.  All three are great Primes in their own right.  MP-44 looks like he walked right off the screen, and has a ton of gimmicks and accessories.  MS-01X is as well articulated as MP-44. and has that awesome G1 toy style paint job.  TE-01 has a light up gun.  It's a more toon accurate sculpt than MS-01, while costing less than MP-44, so that's a big part of the appeal to the fandom at large.  Now, when's Takara releasing the G1 toy based MP-44+?  I need my yellow eyed MP Optimus already!  

@Galvatim did your TE-01 include the new head sculpt? Based on the angle of the face, I can't tell if that's the ver.1 head or the new one.

Edited October 2, 2019 by growcian