Tiny Magnus!

We saw a rumored listing for these earlier last week, and people pretty easily determined that these were the molds that would be used for these characters. I've got to say I'm loving them! These molds were part of the first legends toys made for G1, and now they are being repainted to give us a few more of those G1 dudes. Takara actually already made their own Cliffjumper repaint a few years back, and I'm not interested in him anyway (I don't think). The other two are where it's at, though! While I really would have loved some kind of Commander-class Ultra Magnus (even a repaint of T30 Optimus), this isn't too bad either and will sit well alongside legends Optimus and Motormaster. I have a fondness for "white Prime" Magnuses, but I also appreciate the blue legs on this one (a callback to Classics Magnus, I guess). I'm amused as hell by the box art too, what with its depiction of armored Magnus in his armorless colors (a notion that I actually dreamed up being used on Armada Overload as a way to produce a SG Magnus before FP made their own, different take on the idea). I'm really only disappointed by Magnus's lack of a weapon here, but Optimus didn't come with one either, so I guess the Mario Bros of the TF world get to punch their way out of trouble.

Skywarp gives us the chance to complete yet another Seeker trinity, which is amusing because the T30 Commander mold has a Skywarp repaint being released in the near future as well; hopefully both will be purchasable around the same time! Also Skywarp lucks out in that the mold has its own built in weapons, so he'll have an edge over Magnus and CJ in combat.

I just hope these guys will actually be easy to find at retail - I definitely prefer seeing these guy on Dollar General pegs for years than not getting them at all in the US, like some legion/legends waves of the past year and a half or so.

Awww yeah!

On tiny goddesses and being heavily armed

I've bought my first two latter-day RiD (the new cartoon sequel of TF: Prime, not the IDW comic series or the post-Beast Machines cartoon from 2001) toys. This show's toy line has not been the most impressive. It includes only two "normal" price points: a revived legion class and a renamed deluxe class ("warrior"). And while the deluxes do not really impress (some are worse than others, but none so far look like real knock-outs), the legion class looks just fine, and appears to pick up where TFP cyberverse left off, minus weapons and a complementary commander class. 

In short, I decided to pick up legion class Strongarm and Optimus Prime. Strongarm lives up to her namesake; the first Strongarm, from Energon, was deemed a "tiny god" back in 2004 by much of the fandom (I never quite got that, but it's a decent toy). This newer, smallest toy of the female police truck Strongarm is one of the "strongest" legion molds in a while, and that's saying something, as much of the TFP legion toys were pretty great. It's mostly about the articulation; it's nearly a rule that if s legion toy has elbow joints, it will lack knees of vice versa. Strongarm not only has knees, but also ball jointed shoulders and functional "elbows" (really additional shoulder joints, but whatever)! As such, she's pretty dynamic, especially next to her dead boss Optimus, whose only real poses are goose-stepping and looking like he's on a crucifix. Additionally, her door-wings (window-wings?) are adjustable too, adding to the dynamism.its really too bad she doesn't include a weapon, as that's her only shortcoming. I also appreciate her being molded with her faceplate activated; it looks great.

Optimus was a purchase that required more thought. He automatically came off as a downgrade, seeing as how there hasn't been a legion class Optimus since 2010 or so, shortly before the commander class was introduced. We now have commander Optimuses from DotM, TFP, Beast Hunters, and G1. While this new one is just, yes, an update of the same character that two of those moods already represent, I can't help but wish neo-RiD Optimus was a commander (this would have opened the door for a commander Grimlock, etc, as well). But as a legion Optimus, he's not bad. He's the first Optimus in a while that has a full cab/trailer alt mode that turns into a complete robot, Motormaster or Star Convoy style. The transformation is pretty neat too; he kind of unfolds like a flowe, with the only kibble being the cab on his back. I was tempted to get the deluxe version and may still, but this one will do well in the meantime. 

Lastly, I've found one more Combiner Warrior: Blackjack! He's currently attached as Optimus's chest armor (don't have Motormaster yet) with the help of some nail polish. As you can see, my Ultra Prime is a work in progress, and still needs legs. I look forward to completing the Stunticons soon, not just to put Menasor together, but also to see how Optimus looks with a full team of Decepticon limbs! But even now, with just two arms and two legends partners, he's got a ton of weapons.

Toyfair 2015 assessment! MERGE FOR THE KILL

OK! I had a pretty fun weekend - took Friday off from work, got (finally) Combiner Wars Powerglide and Bombshell to hang out with Dragstrip, Evac (Alpha Bravo) and Optimus, took my son on a 2-night "campout" on the USS Yorktown (got him Fireflight and his own Powerglide for Valentine's) and then got to have a belated date night with my wife last night. 

However, Toyfair 2015 also came and went, and some pretty cool stuff was shown!

My main interest here was, as expected, Combiner Wars. I'll go by size class:

Legends: 

- Warpath: a remold of T30 Megatron (the miner-based one with Chopshop), this one unfortunately doesn't interact with the larger combiner toys. It looks ok, but doesn't have the signature chest cannon, and other than being te same size as most other neo-minibots doesn't have much over the really nice deluxe from 2011. 

- Viper: this is a remold of Powerglide. The new part is the head, which is apparently like some kind of Cobra pilot helmet. The whole thing is a Cobra Rattler homage, even down to having a special symbol on the wings/chest. I normally wouldn't care much about this (the rattler deco doesn't exactly "wow" me), but it does give us another Decepticon target master, specifically one that can combine with Cyclonus's gun (see below)!

- Groove: downsized ostensibly for scale reasons, this is a pretty interesting take on the character. He's very lanky, such that he is reminiscent of HFTD Brimstone. He forms Defensor's chest armor. I like him pretty well, and may get him whether or not I go in for the whole Protectobot team. 

Deluxe: just the Protectobots were shown, sadly (I'm really looking forward to seeing the '84 team, plus anyone that gets designed to go with Cyclonus):

- Blades: Alpha Bravo with a new head, to no one's surprise. I was kind of hoping he'd at least get some new forearms, since we will will very likely get Vortex from this mold (and I'm sure he will keep the missile arms too). I also don't care for the fact that the first real Modern Blades toy can't do anything useful with his blades in bot mode, but I guess I'll just think of him as a gun fanatic. Looks good overall, particularly as part of Defensor, but already having Alpha Bravo has cooled me to Blades a bit.

- First Aid: pretty heavy retool of Off-Road, he's a small ambulance truck. Still, he's undeniably First Aid, the only somewhat weird thing being that he keeps Off-Road's axe. Love the head mold.

- Streetwise: another heavy retool, this time of Dead End. He's probably the team member I care about least, but he does look way more like the character than my Botcon 2010 G2 Redux version. Makes me wonder how they'll do Prowl.

- Rook: ok, the new guy! A white and blue SWAT APC. He looks pretty cool and has a neat Jaws of Life-type kind of weapon. He also has some molded-in arm cannon-things with 5mm port barrels, kind of like Cybertron Defense Hot Shot. However, he doesn't have actual fist holes, for whatever reason...not sure why he couldn't have both. Still pretty neat overall, and a good new addition (amusingly the ONLY new mold limb of the group!).

Voyager:

- Hot Spot: not bad! We already saw the basic look of the alt mode a few weeks back on the Fan Built Combiner app, and it's a longer airport kind of fire truck, giving Hot Spot an almost lanky, tall athletic look. The ladder is massive and has two detachable cannons, and it's pretty clear that he'll make a good Onslaught some day. Defensor himself looks pretty boss, especially considering that only 50% of him is made of new molds (and one of those is Groove). He looks very chunky in a good way, like he is heavily armored, which is pretty appropriate for a "Defensor."

- Cyclonus: aww, yeah! I was really looking forward to seeing this guy and it turns out that he's my most anticipated toy AFTER toyfair too! Cyclonus is a Silverbolt remold, and while I thought Silverbolt looked a little less than stellar, Cyclonus looks great. They did enough remolding to very nearly make it look like the mold was made for the character (the "robot chunks under airplane" engineering from Silverbolt is still there, though it matters less to me with Cyclonus's sci-fi alt mode). No new weapon, but that does allow Viper to connect with the combined mega-rifle, enabling Cyclonus to still serve as a targetmaster-wielder. The torso mode, which we have sadly not seen pictures of yet, is some version of Galvatron allegedly called "Galvatronus!" I did see that the torso armor is remolded to look less like Superion's and more like G1 Galvatron's, but the head remains a complete mystery. I can't wait to see if this toy actually shows up in the fiction, what with Galvatron hunting for the Enigma of Combination and all. Also, here's hoping we get a dedicated set of limbs to go with him, as we so far only have the Stunticons (and potential Combaticpns) in the normal Combiner Wars range for the bad guy's side. But that would be to ignore...

Titan Class:

- DEVASTATOR! A boxed set of all six Constructicons, each one a voyager-sized robot that all combine into a nearly G1-accurate behemoth of a combiner! I was pretty pumped for this, having seen the Nuremberg pics and my wife having agreed to by it for me for my birthday/Christmas. However, all is not perfect in Constructicon-land: the individual robots a very simple, probably more so than the deluxe combiner limbs, and Scrapper doesn't have any elbows! Long Haul only gets lateral elbow movement (not to mention having weird, but interesting proportions; he's reminiscent of Energon Demolisher in some ways). Everyone else looks pretty much like a bigger version of their G1 toy. Devastator's forearms turn into multi-missile launching guns for both Scavenger and Bonecrusher, and the jet wing chestplate separates into three different weapons as well (I understand that all the extra pieces can be carried in Long Haul's bed in altmode). Overall, though, we get a giant Devastator that has no real compromises outside of some engineering choices; that is, we get all six members (rather than just five, had they used the normal Combiner Wars layout), combining in the traditional way, and all in one fell $150 swoop. Which is about $30 cheaper than I thought it would be. Since I missed out on Metroplex, I'm still pretty excited about the prospect of getting this guy, especially since the Combiner Wars Clns seem a little outnumbered by the Autobots this year otherwise. Oh, and there is no Prowl interaction, but I'm pretty sure prowl being written off of the Constructicons and onto Team Optimus will be a big plot point for the comics, which will also necessitate Scrapper's resurrection, which they've kind of laid the ground work for.

Leader: oh, yeah - in all my excitement, I skipped over someone else:

- Ultra Magnus/Minimus Ambus: ok, I'll just go ahead and say that, like I kind of expected, I'm not totally thrilled with this. I really wanted the cab to transform into a smaller robot, whether that be Minimus Ambus or, you know, Magnus himself. Instead, what we get is a non-detaching cab that serves as a cockpit of sorts for a very small (maybe minicon sized) Minimus Ambus, who gets a hover car alt mode for himself. That said, here are the good things: IDW styling, weapons combine to make a hammer, the cab does at least end up in the right place in bot mode, we get another IDW-original character/Lost Light crew member, new G1 Magnus, etc. I do hope we can one day get a platinum edition or something where the cab has been replaced by one that changes into a small robot, but this is an ok try. I might get it, but I'm way more interested in the Combiner Wars stuff proper.

Ok, fine.

So, last summer I declared the new voyager Optimus for Generations to be a huge embarrassment for hasbro and basically a step backward, looking nowhere as good as the nearly-decade-older Classics Optimus mold.

Since then, we have learned that Optimus was in fact a (p)retool of Combiner wars Motormaster. Now, the fact that we have Optimus and Motormaster is no big deal; many smaller-scale Optimuses have been repainted into Motormasters (if not in name). The big deal, of course, was that this meant that Optimus himself would be one of the torso cores for the upcoming Combiner Wars play pattern! 

Now, if you say "Optimus" and "combiner" in the same breath, most people think back to Energon, where the infamous leader class Optimus (derided as "Fatimus") was able to combine, Megazord-style, with four transforming limb/vehicle drones (a system later emulated on a smaller scale with the Power Core Combiners). A LOT of fans didn't like this toy. I mean a LOT. I really did, but whatever. The point is that Energon Optimus came very close to doing something people had wanted for a while - a scramble city-type combiner with Optimus as the torso core - but didn't hit the mark, since the limbs were all relatively simple drones rather than familiar Autobot characters.

Now, all of the sudden, not only do we have an iteration of the Generations line with two size classes (more, if you count some of the legends toys like Blackjack) dedicated to scramble city combiners, but Optimus can form the torso core for the limbs! While wave 1 won't allow you to make any normal combiner from a traditional lineup due to which characters got released, you can make an "Ultra Prime" by attaching the available 3 Aerialbots (Alpha Bravo, Fireflight, and Skydive) along with the lone Stunticon of the wave, Dragstrip. Of course, even this is not quite the legendary Optimus combiner I'd longed for, what with a cohort of limb characters that you wouldn't think of when designing an Optimus combiner. However, thanks to some leaked toy listings, we know now that there are some upcoming combiner wars releases for Prowl, Sunstreaker, Mirage, and Ironhide! Now, I'll grant you that even this is not an ideal lineup - being that these toys are ostensibly part of the IDW continuity, you've got Sunstreaker as a confirmed traitor (since redeemed), Mirage as a once-disaffected traitor suspect who has dreamt of betraying his faction, Prowl with all kinds of problems, and Ironhide, who at least can't remember that he's the one that caused Mirage's disaffection thanks to beating the autobrand off of him (he died afterward, and doesn't remember anything from before his resurrection by Alpha Trion). So, yeah, a bit of a weird mix, plot-wise. But still, all of these guys are currently active-duty Autobots, with only Prowl as the questionable member. But this is great. An Optimus combiner with a limb team of '84 cast Autobots? What's not to like?

(Aside: ok, I would change some things if I had my druthers. I MIGHT have made the combiner a different character - maybe even Primus - rather than Bigger Optimus. Also, my ideal limb lineup might have been Prowl, Hot Rod, Ironhide, and Jazz, with a Bumblebee chestplate. But I'm happy with what we're getting. Honest!)

I should mention that these new toys of Optimus' limb team are VERY likely to be Stunticon remolds, just as how Optimus himself shares a mold with Motormaster. It's a safe bet that Mirage comes from Dragstrip (and fitting; Classics Mirage was repainted into Universe SE Dragstrip). Breakdown's also a safe bet for Sunstreaker, as they both share a Lamborghini alt mode, but moreover, Breakdown's Menasor fist has knuckle-guns that HIGHLY resemble the engine pipe thingys on G1 Sunstreaker's back (and according to his box art, can even be mounted with them pointing up on his back). That leaves the Dead End and Offroad molds for Prowl and Ironhide. I'm pretty sure they're not gonna turn Ironhide into a sports car, so despite Prowl currently having a SUV mode in the comics, they'll likely make him from Dead End and Ironihde from Offroad with his truck mode. Clearly, I'm really looking forward to these guys, and very much hoping that they will be officially revealed in a few weeks at Toyfair (we DO know from a leaked UK Toyfair image that we are getting a repaint of Optimus with a Magnus-y white head and a remold of Blackjack into Hot Rod...). So while I only have Optimus with Dragstrip as his lone limb at the moment, I'm sure sometime later this year I'll have a fully realized Optimus combiner to display and square off against Menasor.

I'll end on this note - while I was very certain last summer that the Combiner Wars line was not for me, as it appeared to be overly simplified and overly G1, my subsequent impressions (which have been strengthened by handling Optimus and Dragstrip myself) have only improved, and it looks like this line will provide us with the best combiners in the franchise's history, and not just one! This is a near-quantum leap over FoC Bruticus/Ruination, which I considered pretty sophisticated at the time (despite its somewhat serious drawbacks). I may not be going in for everything, but at the very least, Menasor, Ultra Prime (with his team of '84 Autobots!), and the Fan-Built Combiner of 2016 will be gracing my shelves.

Transformers of the Year

So, here we are. I'm actually beginning to type this on December 30th, so a little earlier than normal, which is always iffy since Hasbro likes to do 11th-hour releases at the end of the year (like me finding T30 Dreadwing last New Year's Eve). Without further ado:

Best Legion class: Grimlock - For most of the year, we didn't get any new Cyberverse toys, legion OR commander; it appears that subline died with Beast Hunters (well, at least until now, since the neo-RiD legion wave 1 is hitting stores). Anyhow, Walmart did get a bunch of Age of Extinction exclusives, including a single wave of 4 single-packed legion class repaints from previous lines. One  of the best things about the Beast Hunters Cyberverse series (a great series all around) was the Abominus Terrorcon molds, and I always thought that Rippersnapper, admittedly the weakest of the bunch, wold nonetheless make a decent Grimlock. Lo and behold, we get one! Granted, he uses AoE Grimlock's more coppery/orange colors, but since it's a TFP base mold, I'm using it as some version of TFP Grimlock anyhow. I DO wish he had been packed with BH Optimus's sword; there is actually ANOTHER Grimlock repaint of this mold (more black, some red) that does include that sword, but it isn't getting released domestically or something.

Runners up: I would have said Rot Gut, as he is essentially a TFP version of MTMTE's Blip, a terrific minor character, but this wave didn't get released in the US. A shame, as I was hoping to be able to build an Abominus from repaints, but neither Hn-Grrr nor Twinstrike have ever shown signs of getting repaints at all. Intead, I'll probably guess neo-RiD Steeljaw that has just been released, mainly for the awesome animalistic car mode and werewolf bot mode.

Best Commander class (traditional: tiny toys of big characters): Starscream. This guy is such a better Commander Class Starscream than the TFP version(s) that it's not even funny. It's also the best small version of Starscream overall, in terms of kibble management and whatnot. The Waspinator targetmaster is a great touch, finally giving us a set of toys that accurately depicts the size difference between G1 and BW transformers. I like that the null ray cannons have handles that can be used by both 3mm holes and traditional 5 mm holes - that's pretty swank.

Runners up: Again, I would have picked BH Ultra Magnus for (like his voyager counterpart) being a great remold of an Optimus toy and introducing the Forge of Solus Prime into Cyberverse, but his wave (also including the ONLY official domestic TFP Unicron toy as a Megatron repaint and a Bludgeon remold of Shockwave), tragically didn't make it to the US either. I may have to track down at least Magnus sometime...

Best Commander class (newer: normal scale toys of tiny characters): This might have to be a tie between Swerve and Tailgate; they make such a great pair and despite having Terran, not Cybertronian, alt modes, they look like they jumped right off a page of MTMTE. However, I also have Shrapnel and Cosmos and they are fantastic too. In fact, this class (sans targetmaster partners, sadly) is probably the single biggest thing I'm looking forward to from Combiner Wars. These guys are a lot like a new basic/scout class, but they also manage to handle their own slightly smaller scale very well. The only ones I haven't gotten by now are Bumblebee and Cliffjumper (they do look a bit iffy). No real runners up.

Best Deluxe class: Man, this is hard...this is where Hasbro really banged it out this year. I suppose for purely personal reasons I choose Armada Starscream. He's a great mold anyway, and the dynamic look of the original toy deserved the larger range of movement that the new deluxe has. I DO wish he had come with a tiny version of Armada Swindle, but his twin energon swords (a much better alternative to the original's one wing sword) and the Centuritron wavemate, made of 3 minicons, more than makes up for Swindle's absence.

Runners up: A lot! Jhiaxus, Centuritron, FoC Skywarp, ARCEE, Windblade, etc. It's easier to list what I didn't like, which includes Skids/Crosscut, Rattrap, Chromia, etc.

Best Voyager: AoE Drift. Yes, the remold of DotM Skyhammer into a Samurai. I did not care much for most of AoE, but in lieu of them making an actual triple-changing Drift, this toy made a great substitute.

Runners up: Honestly, I haven't been as impressed with many of the Generations Voyager this year. Rhinox looked good but needs a lot more paint. I think I'd have to pick Slog here, because he's the first Sludge update...EVER. And he looks pretty good, too/ I got one for my boy for Christmas, along with the TRU Swoop Evolutions 2-pack.

Leader class: All of these looked sub-par this year, and of the three (four? Does AoE FE Optimus count?). I guess Jetfire is the best, but even he suffers from needless fake kibble and hollow limbs.

Runners up: Grimlock looks a little better than either large-scale AoE Optimus toy.

I think that sums it up. So, Transformer of the Year?

I pick....Swerve. Seriously, he's a triumph of both engineering (simple and still gets the job done) and good transformers fiction from MTMTE. I think he technically came out last year, but didn't really become easy to find until this summer or so. SO much character in a tiny, affordable package!

Season of the Witch

Well, hello there! It's been about 2 months since I posted on Swerve and Tailgate, and my birthday has come and gone with Halloween on the horizon! I got exactly enough birthday cash to get Jhiaxus, Windblade and voyager Drift (on sale for $20) the other day. 

It says something that my only non-exclusive AoE toy is a remold of a DOTM toy. Drift is a strange bird of a figure but in the end works pretty well. I'm not happy about having to sand down his sword handles, but he's well armed besides. Windblade is a toy I initially was very excited for, and then not very much, but once I got to see some online in-hand pics, it looked like she'd be ok after all. I do wish she felt more solid - a lot of connections in both modes are held with friction - but overall she's a good deluxe. She needs to be remolded into a G1 Slipstream, though. Jhiaxus hits a lot of buttons. I was already a big fan of the base Starscream mold for what should be by now obvious reasons, and Jhiaxus is an interesting character who never had his own toy aside from a late-RiD Kaybee exclusive repaint of deluxe BM Jetstorm, which this new toy for whatever reason draws its deco from. Still, that means he's pretty close to being a Halloween transformer, which is never reall a bad thing. I love the new parts as well, and can't wait to get deluxe Armada Starscream out of storage at my parents' to compare in-hand.

So, I might only have Arcee left for the year...I did see legends Acid Storm last weekend, but passed on it for now. NYCC did reveal a Thundercracker remold of the new leader class Jetfire, but I don't think I need a non-MP Thundercracker that big, and that mold with its fake chest cockpit sucks besides. I'm glad to have these three new TFs, but am still looking forward to unloading many others in the collection and just picking some up sporadically.