August Hauls!

[BWprowl]

Got some packages!

Cybertron Thunderblast came in off of eBay. Not sure why, but I hit upon wanting this toy a while back. Probably similar to getting that BH Arcee in that all that Windblade-spawned talk of female TF led to me wanting a few more of them in my collection. And Thunderblast, being a 'new' character for her series and a boat-former besides, scratches a lot of itches for me anyway. She's as much of a blatant shellformer as you've always heard, though at least the legs contribute a *little* bit to the altmode. She was a lot better once I found out you can move the shell back on that hinge in robot mode too. The weapon is better, especially in robot mode, if you just never use its key gimmick, it's fine as just a hugeass box rocket pod.

Man, where were all the people bitching about shrinking Deluxes back in Cybertron? Not only is Thunderblast positively tiny, there were plenty of others in the line (Red Alert comes to mind) who were on the small side as well.

Then got a package from Dom: Dude hooked me up with Generations Skrapnel/Reflector, who I've otherwise resigned myself to never seeing in my area. He's pretty cool, definitely better than Tailgate. A 2-pack of things I generally like, Insecticons and Reflector, they do it pretty well. Reflector does alright a tiny camera who transforms by standing him up, and Skrapnel can actually grip him in camera mode alright using his arms/handles on the sides. Gun mode is fun, I like the 'fins' formed by his arms. Skrapnel himself is cool, decent transformation that actually feels rather Beast Wars-ish in places, which I like, the legs are particular clever. Also like that he actually stands up on all of his bug legs (unposable as they are), and the wheels sculpted into them are a nice touch. Robot mode is nicely dynamic. I'm amused that his pincers don't have to spread for transformation to reveal his head anymore, it's a purely aesthetic flourish (entirely dictated by the look of the G1 toys, but still). Guess I should get the Chop Shop from Megatron and let him hang out with this guy at some point too.

Dom also threw in the customary Dom Extras, including a bunch of FCBD comics from some company I've never heard of, the Battleship novel (why did you even buy this in the first place?), a Warhammer novel (something something night lords or something) which worked out because it was my roommate's birthday and he likes reading these things so I was able to just chuck it over to him, and a Marvel Legends Super Hero Showdown black costume Spider-Man figure, one of those neat little absurdly articulated 4inch figures Toy Biz was doing for a while (which had a game tied into it OF COURSE). Shoulders pop off a little easy and despite the oodles of articulation it has everywhere they somehow skimped out on wrist swivels, plus it's got one eternally-webslinging hand, which I hate on Spider-Man toys, but whatever, neat little Spider-Man! Thanks for everything, Dom!

[BWprowl]

Saw Guardians of the Galaxy yesterday. At the absolute least, this is the funniest damn comic movie these Marvel guys have made. I honestly thought Rocket Raccoon would wind up overexposed and he wouldn't be nearly as entertaining as they played him up to be, but I was happy to be wrong, he was awesome. Quill/Star-Lord was great too, and is also an extremely rare case where I find myself really liking the 'design' of a live-action character (tokusatsu suits notwithstanding). Might at least need to get his ML toy. Really though, incredibly solid all-around flick, go see it. It's easily the best Marvel movie since the first Captain America in terms of pure-fun entertainment value.

[Onslaught Six]

Man, where were all the people bitching about shrinking Deluxes back in Cybertron? Not only is Thunderblast positively tiny, there were plenty of others in the line (Red Alert comes to mind) who were on the small side as well.

But there were also a lot of really huge Deluxes in Cybertron. Hot Shot, for example, is really huge. Crosswise is just decent-sized, but is easily the same size as, say, the TF1 Deluxes.

including a bunch of FCBD comics from some company I've never heard of

Valiant?

[Shockwave]

Generations Scoop and Rhinox. I'd been waffling on Scoop for a while, not because he didn't look cool or anything, but because I have way too many Autobots. But, Target was having a $5 off sale and for $10 I finally couldn't resist. There's not much to say about him that hasn't already been said, he's fun, and the targetmaster guys do add to the play value. Rhinox... I like the toy, but, the one I got has loose joints in the knees so getting him to stand reliably is a bit tricky. Not impossible, just tricky. Other than that, I'm pretty happy with it. He's got decent articulation in bot mode which is the whole point of updating a character like rhinox.

[Onslaught Six]

He's got decent articulation in bot mode which is the whole point of updating a character like rhinox.

I dunno, the original was pretty solid in that department--it was the kibble and the fact that he had a weird samurai vibe to him that made him an inappropriate figure for the show character.

[Shockwave]

I never had the original so I didn't really have anything to compare it to, but assuming he was on par with other BW figs at the time, he is probably at least a little better articulated this time around. Also, I'm not seeing the samurai thing. The kibble is weird though.

[BWprowl]

I never had the original so I didn't really have anything to compare it to, but assuming he was on par with other BW figs at the time, he is probably at least a little better articulated this time around. Also, I'm not seeing the samurai thing. The kibble is weird though.

The hip-pads and crotch-panel-tabard thing are very samurai-esque, and the mutant-head-halves are evocative of a particular style of samurai helmet when open, not to mention the sword. There's a definite Samurai Thing happening.

Anyway, BW Rhinox might actually be considered *more* posable than Generations Rhinox, given that the original has better range of motion in his elbows and knees, and his back legs can move in Beast Mode more convincingly. There's no question that Generations Rhinox *looks* better though, and I dig the increased size. Plus this one has *two* spinny gimmick weapons, instead of just one, which makes it quantifiably superior.

[Shockwave]

Wait, there's a mutant head on here somewhere? If there is, I can't seem to find it.

[BWprowl]

Wait, there's a mutant head on here somewhere? If there is, I can't seem to find it.

On original BW Rhinox, bro. That's the one with the samurai motif, the Generations version pretty much completely excises it.

[Shockwave]

Oooh, ok.