Foot surgery!

I had a plantar wart in my foot and finally was able to get it cut out today. Had to take a day off of work and drive over an hour away to do it, but it's gone, something my wife (and the doctor) were pretty pleased about. I don't know much about warts; didn't know until last night that they were viral in nature, and the doctor told me that you can catch the virus just by stepping on a stick or a plastic toy! In other scenarios, they can get into wounds or can be caught from the air. I had no idea that an airborne virus could give me a wart on my foot.

Anyhow, on the way to the doctor, I made a stop and found the new Target exclusive NEST Legends class 2-packs. I hadn't really thought much about getting these. One of theme is a definite no-go - it's just legends Skids and Mudflap in slightly weirder (but not truly different) color schemes. That makes three exclusive multi-packs that legends Mudflap has been a part of now, by the way.

Another set had ROTF legends Bumblebee and a repaint of Universe legends Wheelie based on Botcon Shadow Striker. That set was more enticing, as I don't own Universe Wheelie, nor do I own Shadow Striker, and her (yep, she's a female TF) deco on the Wheelie mold looks pretty damn good. Bumblebee, however, is (yet again) barely repaint, this time with some cyberglyphics graphics on the doors. I didnt' really want this redundant Bumblebee ( I plan on getting the upcoming Stealth Bumblebee non-exclusive repaint).

Third up was a set including a repaint of Universe legends Hot Rod (or Rodimus, whatever) in the traditional Smokescreen colors, paired with the 2007 Movie legends Starscream mold in black with his ROTF tattoos in metallic teal (much like the upcoming KMart exclusive ROTF Nebular Starscream repaint). Like Shadow Striker/Wheelie, I never found the Universe Hot Rod mold before, and getting Smokescreen repainted from Hot Rod (rather than Prowl, like he normally would be) was pretty interesting. Starscream, while already owning 3 copies of the mold (I got rid of my original 2007 version after getting the ROTF repaint) was worth a look if only because it was a way to get the Nebular deco at a cheaper price.

So I ended up but the two latter sets. Bumblebee is, unfortunately, the cost of doing business; I have no real use for him, and I'll still be getting the Stealth repaint whenever it shows up. It's kind of worth it for Shadow Striker, though - the base mold is pretty awesome, with an excellent transformation (if no usefull elbow or knee joints). The car mode is where it's really at, though. It's like they turned the old, bat-face-grilled Batmobile and turned it into a subcompact. The angles and curves on this thing make it look really aggressive, though, almost as if it's an off-road vehicle.

Smokescreen is a bit plain-looking when it comes to bot mode colors, but his build makes him look strong; I could see why if Hasbro really did intend for this mold to be Rodimus Prime and not just the younger Hot Rod. The alt mode is really suited to Smokescreen's rally car theme, too. One of the neatest aspects of the toy is the pseudo-automorph that's initiate by moving the spoiler back or forward, depending in the direction of the transformation. It's a neat touch in a size class of such little toys that ususally don't get that kind of attention.

Starscream looks great. This really is the best-looking version of the mold so far (so long as you don't mind the cyberglyphic tattoos). It's also worth owning despite me already having another black Starscream repaint - the 2008 Allspark Battles Stealth Starscream - which has been serving as Movie legends Skywarp since I bought him, anyway. This new repaint is actually kind of creepy looking, almost like what Movie Starscream would look like if he were a Black Lantern.

Also, I'm glad the NEST Battle Pack arrived from HTS today, since it was also the first day I saw it in stores, and I hate hate hate ordering stuff from HTS and finding it on shelves before I get it in the mail (i'm particularly glad that I still haven't seen ROTF Legends Wheelie and Soundwave, now that HTS sent them to me). I haven't gotten to play much with either Battleifield Bumblebee or Infiltration Soundwave yet, but BB feels a bit loose, and it doesn't seem like his arms peg or secure in altmode; it seems like they're just supposed to stay in place by joint friction. Soundwave, on the other hand, is a bit "tighter" than the original release, and the new colors look very good, homaging the Japansese Soundblater toy (as Animated Electrostatic Soundwave also does) while still doing his own thing. Of course, I own more than three nest releases now, but I just got finished adhering 3 of my NEST stickers to the mail-away form for the exclsuive Recon Ravage repaint, which I mentioned about 2 posts ago.

Now I'm eagerly awaiting ROTF Mindwipe (it shipped the other day), and hoping that my wife would both be inclined and able to find either TF Animated Arcee and Cybertron Ratchet or ROTF Legends Devastator for Valentine's Day.