Friday, June 13, 2008

More Animated!


I managed to find a decent pile of Animated toys at the local walmart yesterday, which luckily included some of my "priority" purchases I mentioned in the previous post. Specifically, I found Voyager class ($20) version of Megatron and Starscream. Also there were Blackarachnia, Bulkhead, and the 2-pack of Optimus Prime and Megatron. I passed on those, however.







When I arrived home, I opened Starscream first. His transformation was both impressive and surprising; all the automated parts work well together fluidly, but it makes the transformation process a little simpler than you'd expect for a 20 TF. Once in bot mode, though, I noticed that Starscream was missing something; one of the arm panels that pops out to become additional weaponry.



Megatron was next, and I found the transformation here to me more involved, but not overly so. The cybertronian alt mode is also much better looking than I had expected from online images, especially if you consider the "pointy" end to be the front, which is backwards from what the packaging and directions say (the actual animation model is very different and its front end has elements from both ends of the toy; the toy's "cockpit" is present, but the cannon is also facing forwards). However, I noticed that one of the two connector tabs in his torso, made from the clear red plastic, was broken. Everything held together well enough, but it was still sort of bothersome.

So I did something that I'd never really had to to before: return "defective" transformers. Actually, I haven't returned them yet, but I did buy duplicates since I messed up the original copies' packaging. Luckily, the replacements were just fine. I was also fortunate to find a few more deluxe ($10) TFs my second time at walmart: Bumblebee, Prowl, and Lockdown. Since I already have Ratchet, I decided to get Lockdown, as Ratchet can use Lockdown's engine/EMP weapon as per the episode "Thrill of the Hunt."

So, now I've got 4 total TF: Animated toys, and it' s not going to grow much larger for now. The next one that I plan on picking up, when I see it, is the deluxe Cybertronian Optimus Prime to spar off with my Megatron.



Even so, I'd like to have most of the TF:A toys that are currently available. The only ones that don't really look like they're worth adding to the collection are deluxe Bumblebee (transformation is overly cheaty and he's a bit big) and Voyager Bulkhead, who I'll think I'll pass on for the larger Leader class version.

Anyway, here's hoping that I can find Prime tomorrow.

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