Got Grapple and PCC Overspazstrip

Started adding pics to the mini-reviews.

So...yeah. I did.

Transmetal II Megatron, G1 Sixshot, ROTF legends Devastator.

Here's another:

Countdown to D-Day

So, D-Day - that is, the release date for the Dark of the Moon/DOTM toys - is coming up here is just over a month. Come May 16th, Transformers 3 toys will be...unavoidable.

Here's a list of the Wave 1 stuff I'm looking to get:

TRA MV3 CYBERVERSE BASIC ASST W1 11
1x Crankcase
1x Skids
1x Top Spin
2x Sideswipe

4x TRA MV3 CYBERVERSE ARK SET

TRA MV3 CYBERVERSE ACTION SET ASST W1 11
2x TRA MV3 STARSCREAM W/ORBTL ASSLT CARRIER
2x TRA MV3 BUMBLEBEE W/MOBILE BATTLE BUNKER

TRA MV3 CYBERVERSE PLUS ASST W1 11
2x TRA MV3 CYBERVERSE PLUS OPTIMUS PRIME
1x TRA MV3 CYBERVERSE PLUS IRONHIDE
2x TRA MV3 CYBERVERSE PLUS MEGATRON
1x TRA MV3 CYBERVERSE PLUS FIRETRUCK

TRA MV3 MECHTECH VOYAGER ASST W1 11
1x TRA MV3 VOY MEGATRON
1x TRA MV3 VOY IRONHIDE


TRA MV3 MECHTECH DELUXE ASST W1 11
1x TRA MV3 DLX STARSCREAM

TRA MV3 HUMAN ALLIANCE ASST W1 11
2x TRA MV3 HA AUTOBOT SKIDS/ELITA-1 W/EPPS

TRA BASIC HUMAN ALLIANCE ASST W1 11
2x TRA BACKFIRE W/SPIKE WITWICKY
2x TRA ICE PICK W/SERGEANT CHAOS
2x TRA THUNDERHEAD W/MAJOR TUNGSTEN
2x TRA SANDSTORM W/PRIVATE DEDCLIFF

TRA MV3 MECHTECH LEADER ASST W1 11
Xx TRA MV3 LEADER SENTINEL PRIME

2x TRA MV3 ULTIMATE OPTIMUS PRIME

RTS Legends

THE MILLENIUM

So, if you go over to the Collection Roster page, you'll see that since I last updated the total count to 998, I recently got a couple of more HTS orders in that bumped me up to 1,006. Pretty crazy. Granted, this count includes all individually transforming toys (like mini-cons) and also figurines (like Robot Heroes and 3" Titaniums), but still, it's a bit crazy to think I finally went over the 1,000 mark.

Anyway, the most recent stuff to come in was:

-the new RTS legends (Optimus, Megatron, Goldbug, and Starscream)
-RTS Lugnut
-PCC Heavytread/Groundspike
-HFTD Axor

Legends Megatron and Starscream are particularly impressive with great transformations for such a small scale, and Heavytread is easily the best 2-pack Autobot PCC. All three of his modes are great with no deficits. Groundspike is ok, too, except for his low number of paint apps and somewhat weak claw mode (reminds me of Energon Sledge/Bonecrusher's weapon a bit). Lugnut is also good, although the transformation has some fiddly steps and the cannon in the plane's tail can't be pointed directly forward in a normal way. Still cool overall. Haven't opened Axor yet.

Oh, and RTS Grapple and PCC Over-run/Spastic/Dragstrip are also on the way.

Crackerjack box

So, my Wheeljack and Thundercracker from HTS arrived yesterday!

Thundercracker is, at this point, very old hat, although his deco is pleasing (very metallic paint on the torso) and he manages to look very different from that other blue Seeker, Dirge. Even so, after transforming him into bot mode, it didn't take long for him to be squeezed into my Seeker shelf, where he'll remain for a long time.

Wheeljack, on the other hand, while being "just" a remold and not a brand new toy, is as fun as a barrell of monkeys. He's based on the same mold as Tracks, but there are a number of new parts:

- Head (obviously)
- Wingtips on car doors
- Front bumper/feet
- Back of legs (now has a C-clip connector for his tools, and the wheels can rotate down)
- Spoiler (the panel it's connected to no longer rotates)
- Wrenches/exhaust pipes/guns instead of rockets
- Knees (bend the other way now)

If that wasn't enough, Wheeljack also has a different key transformation step to make him look even less like Tracks - this time, the hood of the car forms his shins, rather than the back of the legs, like Tracks. Also, the leg remolding has made its so his legs don't extend as far, making Wheeljack fairly short for a Deluxe Autobot that's not Bumblebee or Cliffjumper, but it's not a real bother.

While Tracks and Wheeljack have been somewhat similar over the years, this is the first time they have actually shared a mold, and while Tracks was both revealed and released first, how great Wheeljack has turned out makes you wonder which character the mold was initially intended for. The end result, though, is that it doesn't matter; unlike with Universe Sideswipe and Sunstreaker (where Sunstreaker ended up less like his initial G1 design due to transformation changes), neither character here suffers from being a remold of the other. They both look great and do a fantastic job of updating the originals. Here's hoping we get more remolds of this nature.

A few more HTS orders

So, I got my stuff from HTS a couple of weeks ago. Skyhammer, whom I call the UT version of Movie Dreadwing, is better than I though, as is his minicon Airlift, who has this great trick where his hips/legs link and turn with his head so that you can have two weapon modes that look essentially the same, but one attaches via a powerlinx port (female) and the other can be held by a male one that's a 5mm post. Pretty neat. Also, Scourge is great; his alt mode is unique among aircraft TFs and is actually close to being beautiful. Kup is not quite as awesome as you think he'll be, but neither does he really disappoint. I'm really glad now that I caved on the Walmart HFTD repaint of Recon Ironhide, because he still makes a pretty nice Movie Kup and can exchange weapons with the new Generations one. However, I now feel the need to go back and get Brakedown GTS, who is a blatant War Within Kup homage, even if I don't care much for the mode (it can't store its cyber key in alt mode, and it's the only Cybertron toy to not have that ability).

Anyway, newer stuff keeps sporadically popping up, and I've managed to get most of it, at this point only missing out on RTS Grapple (a Universe Inferno remold) and Windcharger (the only Classics-stlyed scout so far, at least until they release Frumble). So, I made two orders, one with RTS Lugnut and four of the upcoming RTS Legends (Megatron, Optimus, Starscream, and Goldbug) and then one with Generations Wheeljack and Thundercracker.