August Hauls!

[Shockwave]

Ok, so technically I bought them last night, but it was with my August paycheck.

Comic pack Bumblebee: The fuax car bits aren't bothering me on this as much as I thought they would although, I have noticed that the fuax hood on his chest winds up under the car in vehicle mode and restricts the movement of the car (it scrapes on the ground). And the back windows don't line up or snap into place on mine which makes it look unfinished. The tabs are there but won't lock in. EDIT: I got them locked together, but that faux hood scraping even on a smooth surface thing bugs me to no end. This thing will definitely spend more time in Bot mode.

Bot mode I have no problems with. It's a faithful representation of the current look for IDW Bee and since I don't have any other 'Bees, he's my current "Classics" bee. He's got good posability, although, the head joint has only a swivel joint rather than a full ball joint.

Also nabbed Cyberverse (or whatever) Shockwave. I'm not impressed with the alt mode on either version of this toy, but it's still a good representation of the character from the show. I'm also noticing that it's only slightly shorter than FoC Shockwave.

And some Testor's model paints. Got some flat red which allowed me to finish my custom job on Generations Red Alert, who's head is now red.

[JediTricks]

Mattel Batman '66 Batman and Robin 2-pack - $30 from Amazon, only way to get Robin for now. They look great in my '66 Batmobile, which is why I got them. They both have long legs and elongated torsos, Robin suffers this more than Batman, but otherwise they have good proportions for the TV characters. I like this set, but sculpting is soft and there are a few little issues as well, so it's a recommend but not a high recommend. I'll put up a few pics from my phone in this folder:
http://tfviews.com/batman/

DC Batman '66 issue #1 - not bad. Style is an eyesore and overwhelms at parts, but some of the character art is bang on (for the actors they got likeness rights for, I guess, because Alfred and Commission Gordon aren't even trying to look like the show), the character writing is pretty good - excellent voice for Adam West Batman, pretty good for Burt Ward Robin and Frank Gorshin Riddler, so-so on Julie Newmar Catwoman - and the adventure feels like a good extension of the show while also taking it places the show couldn't.

Squaretrade extended warranty for the new tv - $46 for 4 years with the coupon I had. Squaretrade's been good to me over the years.

[Onslaught Six]

Mattel Batman '66 Batman and Robin 2-pack - $30 from Amazon, only way to get Robin for now. They look great in my '66 Batmobile, which is why I got them. They both have long legs and elongated torsos, Robin suffers this more than Batman, but otherwise they have good proportions for the TV characters. I like this set, but sculpting is soft and there are a few little issues as well, so it's a recommend but not a high recommend. I'll put up a few pics from my phone in this folder:
http://tfviews.com/batman/

You think this is gonna stick around? My father's birthday is in September, and he's a huge Batman '66 fan and has some stuff associated with it; this would be a cool centerpiece type deal. (I'd love to work with him to make a cohesive display, too, but I know my father, and he's not really one to get his shit together in a house enough for that. Pity.)

[annhell]

Metroplex.

Yea.

[andersonh1]

Nice. Let us know what you think of Metroplex.

DC Batman '66 issue #1 - not bad. Style is an eyesore and overwhelms at parts, but some of the character art is bang on (for the actors they got likeness rights for, I guess, because Alfred and Commission Gordon aren't even trying to look like the show), the character writing is pretty good - excellent voice for Adam West Batman, pretty good for Burt Ward Robin and Frank Gorshin Riddler, so-so on Julie Newmar Catwoman - and the adventure feels like a good extension of the show while also taking it places the show couldn't.

So is this series worth buying? I flipped through the issue and considered picking it up since I'm an "enjoying old comics" phase at the moment, and this book is trying to emulate that late 60s vibe. The color scheme bothered me though, particlarly the way it was trying to reproduce the old imprecise, outside the lines look of older comics.

The Adam West Batman show is probably what started me down the road towards preferring DC characters over Marvel, since I remember watching it when I was very young. My mom even made me a Batman hood and cape, but my parents took it away and quit letting me watch the show, because I apparently used to cry when something bad happened to Batman and Robin. I don't remember that, but my mom insists that it happened. So a book like Batman 66 would definitely be a trip down memory lane for me.

[BWprowl]

I picked up Generations Traildestroyer at Target. Despite reports of door-based-misassembly being endemic to this mold, I apparently lucked out and my Trailhater had correctly-sided doors! It's a good mold overall, I was really impressed initially by how the camper shell/weapon isn't actually necessary to complete the vehicle mode, then I realized that was so the truck will still look good when that shell is swapped out for a tow hook when Trailviolater is retooled into Hoist. So yeah, just a solid Generations toy in general, definitely more suited to the size class than the new Megatron, despite the love I still have for the latter.

This Target had also put out their Predacons Rising assortment, along with the full lineup of Construct-Bots. I kinda want to go all-in for both lines, but it'll have to wait, this week's a touch tight. Next week though...

(The Predacons Rising packaging is really pretty)

[BWprowl]

Proving that I'm a man of nothing if not a complete lack of willpower, while I was at Target yesterday I caved and snagged the TF Prime Beast Hunters Predacons Rising pack of Commander-Class Optimus Prime and Predaking, since it's physically difficult for me to resist a Thunderclash homage. But I didn't own either of the molds before anyway, and fifteen bucks for two Commanders isn't too bad a deal, so whatever. Optimus is as nice as I needed him to be, delightfully Thunderclash-y, I'll probably just end up repurposing him as a Cyberverse-scale Thunderclash to hang out with my same-scaled G1 guys when I have them climbing all over Metroplex. Predaking's nifty enough, I guess, beast mode's a little silly with its adorable tiny legs, but I like the way the tailgun can have its missile held by him as a separate melee weapon, his head turns, and the colors are nice, whatever they're supposed to be. A neat little distraction of a pack, at least.

[JediTricks]

Mattel Batman '66 Batman and Robin 2-pack - $30 from Amazon, only way to get Robin for now. They look great in my '66 Batmobile, which is why I got them. They both have long legs and elongated torsos, Robin suffers this more than Batman, but otherwise they have good proportions for the TV characters. I like this set, but sculpting is soft and there are a few little issues as well, so it's a recommend but not a high recommend. I'll put up a few pics from my phone in this folder:
http://tfviews.com/batman/

You think this is gonna stick around? My father's birthday is in September, and he's a huge Batman '66 fan and has some stuff associated with it; this would be a cool centerpiece type deal. (I'd love to work with him to make a cohesive display, too, but I know my father, and he's not really one to get his shit together in a house enough for that. Pity.)

I don't know how it's stayed around as long as it has. I would definitely gather the $32.50 (or whatever your sales tax is, but at least slow shipping will be free) together now if you can since that's only next month. Amazon doesn't have a lot of toys usually, they get their order and move on.

So is this series worth buying? I flipped through the issue and considered picking it up since I'm an "enjoying old comics" phase at the moment, and this book is trying to emulate that late 60s vibe. The color scheme bothered me though, particlarly the way it was trying to reproduce the old imprecise, outside the lines look of older comics.

The Adam West Batman show is probably what started me down the road towards preferring DC characters over Marvel, since I remember watching it when I was very young. My mom even made me a Batman hood and cape, but my parents took it away and quit letting me watch the show, because I apparently used to cry when something bad happened to Batman and Robin. I don't remember that, but my mom insists that it happened. So a book like Batman 66 would definitely be a trip down memory lane for me.

I don't know that I'd buy it digitally since it's $1 for 1/4 of the story per week, but as a monthly floppy I intend to put it on my pull list, and I'd recommend the same to anybody who has positive feelings towards the classic show. The style is a little more "modern! take on nostalgia" because of the over-the-top styling, but the overall experience holds up because of the writing and character art. At the very least, issue 1 is worth the $4.

I picked up Generations Traildestroyer at Target. Despite reports of door-based-misassembly being endemic to this mold, I apparently lucked out and my Trailhater had correctly-sided doors! It's a good mold overall, I was really impressed initially by how the camper shell/weapon isn't actually necessary to complete the vehicle mode, then I realized that was so the truck will still look good when that shell is swapped out for a tow hook when Trailviolater is retooled into Hoist. So yeah, just a solid Generations toy in general, definitely more suited to the size class than the new Megatron, despite the love I still have for the latter.

This Target had also put out their Predacons Rising assortment, along with the full lineup of Construct-Bots. I kinda want to go all-in for both lines, but it'll have to wait, this week's a touch tight. Next week though...

(The Predacons Rising packaging is really pretty)

Glad to hear your Trailraper worked out ok. Is mine not the only report of a door mistake?

The Pred Rising packaging does have a lot more appeal than the regular TFPBH packaging, but it's chiefly blue which is the least-selling color in marketing so it's a gamble.

[BWprowl]

Glad to hear your Trailraper worked out ok. Is mine not the only report of a door mistake?

Yeah, DvD also mentioned on his sightings page that his Trailmurderer had two left doors, just like yours. Made me worried that it might be endemic, especially since I didn't know what to *look* for as I was examining it in the package (now I know that they're just on the arms), but I gambled and won, so I'm happy.

The Pred Rising packaging does have a lot more appeal than the regular TFPBH packaging, but it's chiefly blue which is the least-selling color in marketing so it's a gamble.

This comes down to the divide between me purely as a consumer/fan and how I look at it from a marketing/wanting it to succeed perspective. Because I know that blue tends to not do as well on the pegs, but damn the shade they chose and the way they use it and arrange the packaging just looks so pretty to my eyes. The big box Supreme Predaking comes in especially works well with the colors (definitely getting that beast next paycheck). It also does well contrasting against the regular BH packaging, so maybe it'll work out for them.

The packaging on Abominus is a miss though, way too much empty space in that box to make the mini-Gestalt inside look impressive, it borderline looks like a repack by some unscrupulous consumer. They should've gone with something more like what ROTF Legends Devastator came in. I mean, I'm still gonna get it eventually, but still.

[Shockwave]

It'll probably be at least three months from now before I even see Trailslicer and even then it'll probably be the messed up one.

Anyway, found Springer at TRU last night. And this is the last of my expendable cash.