movie toys review thread

[andersonh1]

I'm glad Wal-Mart restocked the exclusives from a few months ago, giving me the opportunity to obtain Grindcore. I don't have Landmine or Botcon Rhinox, so this is my first version of the mold. I'll have to post my thoughts on it once I actually open it, but it looks good. The Constructicons are some of my favorites from back in the day, so any green construction Transformer is hard to resist.

[andersonh1]

Grindcore

I debated picking up Grindcore the first time Wal-Mart had their set of exclusives, but I only saw one, didn't pick it up then, and of course, saw no more. That initial wave seems to have sold out of Big Daddy and Grindcore very quickly, leaving tons of Divebombs and Jolts. I debated this time around as well, but once again the 'last one on the shelf' decided for me. I bought Grindcore today.

This is the only version of the mold that I own. It's a green and grey construction vehicle, so it's not quite the green and purple of the Constructicons, though a mainly green bulldozer does remind me of them. The green is a slightly darker shade than the Constructicons, by the way. It dominates the vehicle mode, though the large black tires do balance things out to some extent. The grey is little more than trim, and it's the same shade as the green, so they don't contrast. There's some yellow lights, but they are tiny. It's a near-monochromatic vehicle that's not flashy at all. The silver Autobot symbol is the element that probably stands out the most, sitting as it does on top of the vehicle in a black field.

All four wheels don't always roll. The base of the dozer sits very close to the ground. The gun plugs into the back and blends into the decor very well. I'm not sure what part of the vehicle it's meant to be, but it's unobtrusive. The shovel raises and lowers, and is stiff enough that small objects could be carried around in the scoop.

Since this is a Cybertron recolor, it has a cyber planet key and key activated gimmick. It's not the most impressive action feature... plugging the key into the rear pair of wheels and turning brings out spikes around the wheel. I'm not sure these are in a practical position in either mode to be any sort of offensive weapon, unless they're meant to be a deterrent to rear attack. So I'm not impressed, but the key does look nice. It's clear red plastic with a silver Autobot symbol on it, so it adds to my variety of cyber planet keys.

Transformation is fairly simple, but has a few clever touches such as the hands that fold out when the shovel is folded back. The end result is a symmetrical robot mode that comes across as mainly monochromatic. The green still dominates the color scheme, with more grey visible around the shoulders and upper arms, and a little at the waist and knees. The primary contrasting color that's revealed is a sort of rust brown. It's a very low key color scheme that works quite well. Articulation is good and the figure is fairly stable.

Overall: a good figure. I didn't care for the Cybertron version's color scheme, and can't afford Botcon Rhinox, but I think Grindcore is my favorite version anyway.

[andersonh1]

Decepticon Fracture

This is a repaint of Classics Mirage into a homage to a Gobot character named Crasher, shown here: http://www.tfu.info/Gobots/Renegades/Bl ... rasher.htm. Apparently the cartoon version resembles Classics Mirage's head pretty well. I was never a big fan of Gobots. Had a few as a kid, but the names were always dumb, and Transformers just interested me far more. So while I don't care about the homage all that much, I liked the mold and the colors, along with the name.

Mirage is one of the most posable figures ever, or at least it seems that way. The compact formula racer unfolds into a very limber and lean robot mode. Fracture has no remolds from Mirage that I can see, just a new red, black and white color scheme that looks pretty sharp. The character is one of the comparatively rare females in the Transformers line (as if alien robots would have gender in the first place), and her face is pink with dark 'mascara' circles around the eyes.

This figure comes in movie packaging. It doesn't really fit the movie aesthetic at all, which is no suprise since it wasn't designed for that line. Also, despite being labelled as an Allspark Power figure, there's no 'allspark blue' to be found. Don't let either of those put you off the figure though. It's a good figure, with a good new color scheme. If you like the Gobot homage, great. If not, it still works well as a character.

I'm still hoping for a Dragstrip repaint though.


Big Daddy

This is a repaint of Cybertron Downshift, another great mold. The original Big Daddy was a micromaster, shown here: http://www.tfu.info/1990/Autobot/BigDaddy/bigdaddy.htm. This is a homage I appreciate quite a bit more than the Gobots homage of Fracture. I enjoy it when Hasbro digs up obscure characters from G1 and gives us a new version. This guy would have fit right into Universe, just like Breakaway or Fracture. And as Dom pointed out, they were probably intended for Universe originally.

The colors are primarily black with orange trim, just like the original Big Daddy. The auto mode is a mix of early 70s cars, and while the original Big Daddy was a 50s muscle car, the fact that he still has a retro vehicle mode is appropriate. The face and facial colors fit the original fairly well, and the car even has flames on the side like the original. Articulation is good, and the cyber key gimmick is a nice extra touch left over from Cybertron Downshift.

This is a great homage. They took an already strong figure and gave it a nice looking repaint, along with the identity of a G1 Micromaster. I'd highly recommend Big Daddy.

[onslaught86]

despite being labelled as an Allspark Power figure, there's no 'allspark blue' to be found. Don't let either of those put you off the figure though.

If anything, that'd encourage me to get her! O6 has snagged me one, fortunately. Heh.

[Onslaught Six]

Still need to send that box out when I get some cash...

I'm still hoping for a Dragstrip repaint though.

He's supposed to show up with Overkill in those new Special Edition repaints. Whenever those come out.

[andersonh1]

I'm still hoping for a Dragstrip repaint though.

He's supposed to show up with Overkill in those new Special Edition repaints. Whenever those come out.

That sounds good. Any pictures available at this point? It'd be nice to get a new head to go with the repaint, but I guess I can't be too picky.

[Onslaught Six]

Well, I thought all we had were packaged pics of the first ones:

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... on-165839/

But then this turned up:

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... es-165849/

[andersonh1]

Grimlock works fairly well as Overbite.

[Onslaught Six]

Got pics of all these guys now:

http://www.cybph.com/archives/389
http://www.cybph.com/archives/390

Their status as HTS exclusives and $15 price tag indicates a pass for me. Megs is alright, I guess, but nothing I particularly want. Dragstrip is Yellow so I'm not too terribly concerned with getting him, and I don't have an interest in Overkill as a character, so it looks like I'm passing on all these.

[Dominic]

That Prime is okay, but hardly worth getting 2 of. And, if I could have avoided getting even one of that Megatron mold, I would have. (Still, if it goes down in price, it might be good for kitbashing.)

Overbite is interesting. I do not have the mold. And, this is, after a fashion, a BotCon exclusive being re-issued.

I might get Dragstrip, depending if I get, and/or how much I like, Mirage.

Dom