Christmas Time!

So, it's the day before Christmas Eve. I'm taking a break from wrapping presents (about to wrap my a few for my son, including Rescue Bots Optimus and Charlie Burns), but I thought I'd go ahead and go over my...contingency plan.

As you may recall, last year I purchased a few TFs ahead of time for myself in the event that my family wouldn't be able to find them. The plan worked fairly well, as (I think) I only ended up having to return two transformers that I had bought for myself (though I did receive 1 HftD Highbrow apiece from my mom and mother-in-law, so I returned one of those as well).

This year, I've managed to mostly refrain from purchasing items on the list I gave to my mom, though there were a few exceptions. I got DOTM Voy. Sentinel Prime right after my birthday, and then bought HA Roadbuster during my October fall break. I also went ahead and purchased TFP Arcee, Bumblebee, and Starscream last month, though Starscream was the only one originally on the list anyway. All three of them remain hidden in package, along with Generations Black Shadow and Junkheap (who also weren't on the list, since I got them before I had a chance to add them). I also picked up DOTM Legion Soundwave last week.

And that's pretty much it...we'll see what else I get over the next few days!

Windcharger

So, hey, my Windcharger arrived in the mail today! Luckily, some low-tier retailers in other parts of the country have started getting a lot of them, and this has in turned driven down his asking price on eBay. I managed to get mine for 2x retail, including shipping.

Pretty neat little guy - it's a shame he's the only classics-style scout-class toy to see US release.

Best of 2011

Ok, so it could be a bit early for this kind of post. Christmas isn't here yet, and some of the more high-profile TF toys of the year (MP Rodimus, Kre-O Optimus, etc) aren't in my possession...yet. Even so, someone started the yearly "Best of" thread over on the Allspark, and I figured I could go ahead and compile a tentative list here, and I'll revise it later in the month if necessary.

I'll be breaking everything down by toyline, and then by size class. Ultimately, I'll post Basement Invasion's Transformer of the Year.

Ok, here we go:

Reveal the Shield:

Legends class: Megatron, for Hasbro having the ***** again to make a realistic gun mode G1 Megatron. Also, bonus points for making the barrel the fusion cannon instead of back kibble. Extra bonus points for making it compatible with the Masterpiece Seeker mold!

Scout class: not that I have it yet (I did manage to win one on ebay for only 2x retail the other day, though), but Windcharger kinda takes this one by default. I mean, his only competition was Chopsaw, and no movieverse repaint is going to be able to compete with an elusive new-mold G1 character. It's just too bad we never got Frenzy/Rumble to go with Windcharger.

Deluxe class: Perceptor. Very cool alt mode that echoes the Animated version of the character, and a great bot mode to match it.

Voyager class: Lugnut, no question. Yeah, Solar Storm Grapple (I swear, it's like I could just make shit up and it'd be a TF name) is pretty cool, but Lugnut is fantastic. He not only manages to be a great homage to the Animated version, but also be a much better toy.


Generations:

Deluxe class: Well, this is the only category, isn't it? And there's so much awesome to choose from...I guess I'll have to go with one of the most recent entries, Black Shadow (well, Sky Shadow, but whatever). See, the thing is, most of the other awesome new mold guys (Kup, Scourge, Warpath) would have inevitably gotten new molds anyway, or at least gotten an homage mold from some other part of the franchise. But a new Black Shadow was never going to happen. Well, at least until we also got a new Thunderwing, the original version of whom the first Black Shadow was remolded from. Even then, the release of Generations Thunderwing last year didn't guarantee a new Black Shadow. He'd have to at least get a new head mold, and there was always a chance that the Thunderwing mold could end up as one of those (nowadays) rare molds that never gets repainted. Or Hasbro could have just repainted him as someone totally unrelated (Earth-mode Terrorsaur!) or brand-new. But, no - Hasbro took the opportunity, made a new head AND chest piece for the toy, and one year after Thunderwing we got Black Shadow. And, right now, he's relatively easy to find, too.

Dark of the Moon: OK, the big bad movie line of the year.

Mini-con: Yep, there are four older minicons repainted and put in DOTM-style packaging, so I figure they could get a shout-out here. "Dualor" is the best of the set, being that he's basically a Grimlock minicon (a Classics Terrorsaur repaint, if you couldn't figure it out). Still, Catilla (from the tiger minicon mold) gets up twinkles for being, well, a Catilla
homage.

Cybervese Legion: I dunno. There's a lot of fun ones here. I'll have to settle for a 3-way tie between Sideswipe, Roadbuster, and Crowbar. Sideswipe has a fun, clean transformation, Roadbuster is just a lot more than you expect from a legends/legion toy, and Crowbar is really interesting (not to mention pretty posable).

Cyberverse Commander: On the Allspark, I posted Hatchet as my choice here, but now that I think about it, I'm going with Blackout. He has an amazing transformation and manages to be a much better toy than his TFM Voyager counterpart. Add in the tiny Targetmaster Scorponok, and you're golden. Really, this size class has been one of the best new things about 2011. The only real "duds" are Optimus and Sentinel, and even they're decent (especially the Battle Steel Optimus repaint with the new weapons).

Cyberverse Action Sets: I've only got the Megatron one, and even that one I just got a few weeks ago. It's pretty cool, though. I'll eventually get Shockwave, since it's not clear that he'll get a single-packed release, but all the other ones are passable.

HA Scout/Basics: Maybe Icepick? I think that's my favorite to transform, and it makes some good ninja poses. Plus, Sgt. Chaos is pretty cool. Doesn't have the best weapon mode, though; I think that goes to Whirl.

Deluxe: Cyberfire Bumblebee. The new BB mold for DOTM is pretty awesome, but when Hasbro slapped this deco on it, they really hit a home run. It's like BB is possessed by the Fallen. It's great. Also, bonus points to a very awesome (and fun!) Laserbeak.

Voyager: Megatron. Just a great, creative voyager. Also, one of the few DOTM toys to have an integrated Mechtech weapon. Both Shockwave and Sentinel are fun, too, though.

Human Alliance (large): Roadbuster. Yeah, he's the only DOTM HA I have right now, but he's also really good. His car mode is really cool and he has a very interesting, involved transformation. One of the best HAs and reason for this size class to continue.

Leader: Sentinel. When you're competing against an oversized BB and a sort-of-crappy Ironhide, it's easy to be #1. However, I think it's awesome that we can even say the phrase "Leader class Sentinel Prime" without it being a pipe dream. All you Bay haters better thank the movies for giving some of the really obscure characters a spotlight.

Kre-O: Seeing as how I only own 2 of these sets, and there aren't that many releases in each of the "size classes", I think I'll just break it down between the sets themselves and the Kreons:

Sets: Megatron. Between him and the larger Bumblebee, he's a bit more interesting in terms of blending design traits of various Megatrons. It's easy enough to construct an awesome wheel cannon, a la Cybertron Megatron, for him too. Also, the truck mode looks really cool, and the tiny cell is fun.

Kreons: Of the ones I have, I'll go with Shockwave. He's just a cool looking little guy, mostly due to his helmet/face. The gun could be better, though.

Transformers: Prime (First Edition):

Deluxe: As of this posting, this is the only class that has been released in the US. While I own the normal releases of Starscream, Arcee, and Bumblebee, I've yet to open them as I'm saving them for Christmas. The two toys that I do have open, NYCC Arcee and Bumblebee, I'd say that Arcee is the better of the two. Bumblebee is pretty cool (I especially like the shoulder transformation), but Arcee is the best version of that character that transforms into a motorcycle. Also, G1 colors FTW.

Basement Invasion Transformer of the Year: ???????

Prime Time: Part Deux

Ok, so in the past couple of weeks the TF fandom rather quickly learned that the Transformers Prime: First Edition toys would not be carried at general retail stores like Walmart and Target. BBTS started this all off by insinuating that only they (and some unnamed specialty stores) would carry the toys, so you should preorder the stuff from them, shipping and markup and all. Thankfully, some people read between the lines, realizing that Toys R Us might be one of those "specialty" retailers.

Sure enough, within a week or so, we saw TFP Bumblebee get listed as in-stock on the TRU website. Then, within a couple of days, not only do Starscream and Arcee show up online, but all three also being to appear in stores! I thought this was great, as I had been worried about my chances of getting the toys online. I got excited when some of my online GA TF allies began to report seeing the toys in stores not too far away, but since I mostly wanted just Starscream from this wave, I was content to wait it out and leave Starscream on the Christmas list I had sent my mom.

But then, I further learned that, basically, the shipments that had just started to show up this week were basically going to be the only shipments of this wave, meaning that there was going to be some ungodly low number of TFP toys available - like only 1500 or so Arcees on the Atlantic coast at all! So, since I was headed to my old college town to have lunch with my friend, I determined to head to the TRU there as well and just go ahead and get all three of the toys if they had them.

I was in luck. They only had four TFP toys - 2 Bumblebees and one each of Arcee and Starscream.

Some Kre-O vehicle mode pics

Prime Time

So, I managed to successfully order the NYCC Exclusive Transformers Prime set last week, which arrived today. I expected the set to sell out quickly, but as of today it's still available on HTS.

Getting this set is a bit weird. First of all, it's the first NYCC exclusive - so far, the only exclusives for comicons have been at SDCC, and this was announced just a few days before NYCC, so it sort of came out of the blue.

Also, these are my first Transformers Prime toys. Normally, exclusive repaints of toys don't get released until after said line has been out for a while, but that's not the case here - TFP deluxe Optimus got an exclusive release for SDCC, but only with exclusive packaging, but other than that, "normal" TFP toys won't get released until next month at the earliest (a full year after the show debuted).

Now, had this set just been the taxi-flavored Bumblebee, I probably wouldn't have gone for it. What really made this set a must-have was the deluxe Arcee in G1 colors. See, Arcee is blue on the show - a bit confusing, since Chromia's traditionally the blue fembot, and has more than once shared motorcycle-based bodies with Arcee - so I didn't really know if I wanted the normal release as Arcee, since I thought it was pretty likely that it'd get repainted in Arcee's traditional pink and white (or at least pink/magenta, like the movie versions).

Turns out that I was right, though I was expecting a G1-style Arcee repaint much later in the line and as a retail store exclusive of some kind. To end up getting it before Chromia, er, show-accurate Arcee, even hits stores is pretty great.

Of course, Bumblebee isn't bad, either. In fact, I'm really having more fun with him. It's a neat mold that certainly echoes the various movie BB toys in many, many ways, but much cleaner lines, so it really exemplifies the "movie/animated" view of the TFP aesthetic.

Oh, yeah - the set includes two of the human figurines from the upcoming Optimus/Megatron deluxe Entertainment Pack. We've only got Raf and Jack here, since they are the "buddies" for BB and Arcee, respectively. They both get decked out in "NY" shirts with Autobot logos, a sort of take on the classic "I <3 NY" shirts."

NOOOOOOOOO

So, I found the 2nd wave of the new, smaller Star Wars Crossover toys the other day. I didn't want any of the wave 1 guys, which have been out for a month and a half or so, but I knew that Darth Vader would be in wave 2 (a remold of the wave 1 Anakin toy) and decided to at least get him.

The toy itself is pretty decent. I mean, if you take the already questionable SWTF design choices and shrink it down to what's essentially the same size as a Cyberverse Commander class toy, you get an idea of what you've got here. If you know this going into the situation, though, you can look past some of the toy's deficits and enjoy what it has to offer. I'll not get into all of that here, as I'll probably review him at some point, but the point of this post is to insert Darth Vader into the TF mythos, since that's what his new toy got me thinking about.

Anyhow, once upon a time, after the 13 had banished/defeated Unicron and the Fallen with him, Prima (first of all transformers and first Matrix bearer) creates, from the first generation of "normal" (read: non-13) cybertronians, the Knights of Prima, a group whose role is to generally safeguard Cybertron and the Matrix. The youngest of these Knights, inducted into the order when Prima is already old, is the cybertronian represented by the SWTF Anakin Skywalker toys (I've yet to come up with an decent TF-sounding name for him; "Anatron" isn't that great). Vector Prime, to Prima the most trusted of the 13, assists in leading this group and is most likely Prima's choice to succeed him as Matrix Bearer. Vector also takes an interest in Skywalker, becoming his mentor and attempting to shape him into being the best Kinight he can be so he can take over leadership of the Knights when Vector holds the Matrix. Skywalker takes to the role of apprentice very well, excelling in all fields, to the point that some believe that he, not Vector Prime, should be the next Matrix Bearer.

Later, Skywalker learns that Unicron has returned and invaded a nearby star system, beginning to devour planets and presumably making his way back to Cybertron. Vector Prime and the ailing Prima are not terribly concerned, as the Matrix defeated Unicron before and should be able to do so again. Skywalker, however, believes that no chance should be taken and that the fight should be brought to Unicron. He implores Prima to go and unleash the Matrix on Unicron far from Cybertron. When Prima declines, Skywalker then begs Prima to allow him to take the Matrix himself and use it to defeat Unicron. Both Prima and Vector are taken aback by this show of hubris, for they believe that only a true Matrix Bearer can wield the Matrix, and that means that Skywalker has begun to believe the rumor circulating about him. Prima denies his request again, explaining that even if Skywalker took the Matrix, it would not respond to him. Vector Prime urged Skywalker to calm himself, that Unicron would be destroyed by Prima when he reached Cybertronian space.

Skywalker found this unacceptable. He gathered a crew of other Cybertronian soliders (not Knights) that could change into starfighters and left to find and attach Unicron. He knew that his chances of defeating the Dark God were slim without the Matrix, but he could at least damage the beast and perhaps save some of the planets currently under threat of destruction.

Upon arrival in Unicron's space, Skywalker and his Troopers attacked the devouring planet as it prepared to ingest yet another world, home to a sentient species. This species was technologically advanced such that they too had spacecraft capable of fighting back. Skywalker managed to communicate with the planet's military. He learned that they had a superweapon that, if brought to Unicron's center, should be able to destroy him from the inside out. However, Unicron had adapted to the creatures and had his internal antibodies equipped with a biological weapon that would infect and kill their pilots before they could reach the core. Skywalker agreed to carry the weapon himself, reasoning that his cybertronian constitution should be able to survive the trip to Unicron's core (which he knew to be his spark).

Skywalker began flying his way into Unicron, superweapon in tow. Sensing the imminent danger, Unicron began to accelerate the ingestion process against the planet. Skywalker and his Troopers tried to fly and fight through Unicron's internal defenses as fast as they could. However, once Skywalker reached Unicron's spark and prepared to arm the weapon, another explosion (caused by the fighting between the Troopers and some of Unicron's antibodies) sent Skywalker himself flying into Unicron's spark. This nearly killed Skywalker, leaving his spark destabilized, parts of his body destroyed and his mind unconscious.

The planet under attack was completely ingested. When the Troopers managed to get Skywalker to come to, they informed him of this and explained that they needed to leave immediately, lest Unicron turn his full attention to them and destroy them. Skywalker became enraged. He armed the weapon and threw it straight into Unicron's spark, even as his Troopers were evacuating. However, when Skywalker had been knocked into Unicron's spark, the weapon had become partially damaged, as well. It only managed to release a percentage of its power, and instead of destroying the Dark God, it merely sent his spark into stasis and teleported his planet-body elsewhere.

In the aftermath, the Troopers saw Skywalker's broken body, once more unconscious, floating in the space where Unicron once was and went to retrieve him. Upon their return to Cybertron, Vector Prime ordered Skywalker to immediately be repaired.

More to come...