November Hauls!

[BWprowl]

Masterpiece Optimus Prime: Got in on the pre-order for this reissue (I think it’s technically intended for that burgeoning Asia market Hasbro’s been making bank off of lately), and it shipped and just arrived yesterday. It also handily outstrips Reissue PM Prime/God Ginrai as the single toy I’ve spent the most money on (can only hope that it won’t be topped too soon). It’s only my second MP after Grimlock, and here’s the thing: It’s good. It’s really really good. But I don’t know if it’s good *enough* considering the price and prestige that comes with the MP label. It looks nice enough and there’s nothing too wrong with it (the deco is somewhat unspectacular and mine’s minorly scuffed in a couple places), but it doesn’t feel like there’s so much going on here to warrant *being* a Masterpiece, particularly when you compare it to the laundry list of nifty little features that the old MP-01 had that didn’t make it to this remake. At best, this really just feels like a (way) above-average Leader Class Optimus Prime, not so much some high-end apex-of-design Adult Collectible.

This works in its favor in some places. Grimlock was simple almost by necessity, but the rest of the Masterpiece line to me always terrified me with the concepts and tales I heard of tiny, fiddly, overly-complex not-fun-at-all transformations, but Prime here doesn’t have that going on at all. The transformation is at once intuitive, interesting, and effective; they really nailed getting the robot design out of the truck and almost no kibble or compromises to either mode. I know a lot of that is just HasTak’s experience in Making Optimus Prime at this point, but it’s a good thing to show, and the result is a toy that just plain WORKS. The folding-gun-storage gimmick is almost superfluous (why does it need to be spring loaded? If you could put it in his hand and then spring it out it might be cool, but the handle folds in so you can’t do that.). The trailer adds some nice value, and its transformation and base mode are very nice for what they are. Even Roller feels premium, having the trailer and weapon-mounting gimmick (though I’m a bit turned off by the senseless pegs sticking out the back of it, given that this iteration doesn’t have the spring-launching-ramp gimmick anymore). The little Spike figure is kinda cruddy for what it is, especially given that this came out around the same time the Human Alliance driver guys were getting made, and those are about a billion times better and aren’t part of a ‘Masterpiece’ product. The other accessories are a bonus to this particular reissue: Vector Sigma and its Key, packed in a little box so flimsy it was crushed and torn by the time it got to me. Vector Sigma is okay, a little clear-plastic golf ball with a cardboard stand, but the Key is a sweet MP-scale die-cast metal affair that makes it worth it. Decent enough bonus, at least.

So overall, yeah, it’s a *very* nice toy, but I can’t shake the feeling that it’s not nice *enough*, given what it is and is supposed to be. I mean, this is Masterpiece Optimus Prime, I should have this and feel like I should never have to buy another G1 Optimus Prime again, but instead, I quickly found myself checking eBay prices on the MP-01 mold, because of all the stuff that one has that this *doesn’t*.

I’m also distinctly curious now as to how he’ll look with the upcoming Leader Megatron.

[Onslaught Six]

Didn't some other company recently get the rights from Hasbro to officially make reproduction and upgrade sticker sets for TFs? They're on BBTS, I know, and have sheets of faction symbols, though I don't know that they have rubsigns as well.

ReproLabels always seemed rather sketch to me, given that they're selling stickers of official TF logos without so much as a license. Plus I just really hate what they do and try and push with their 'upgrade' sets.

I'll be damned, you're right. So far it looks like they mostly just do Masterpiece "upgrades" and faction logo symbols, no rubsigns, which was primarily what I wanted right now anyway.

I can see why you'd think they were "sketchy," but they've been around for over a decade now, they're super old-school with that, and before all this "upgrade set" ridiculousness (I looked at their Roadbuster set and it's ridiculous how much of the figure was covered in faux gold stickers--no thanks) they primarily were doing a service that Hasbro will definitely never do--provide you new, fresh stickers for your G1 toys. I mean, I have quite a few beat-up looking G1ers, like my Onslaught and Ratchet, and if they had some new stickers, they'd look a lot more spiffy and new.

They've been around for years, and their stuff is quality. The fact that Hasbro hasn't sent them a C&D half a decade ago--especially since, according to my envelope, they're based right in Buffalo NY--is almost an implicit, "Hey, you guys are cool," license.

Just wanting to spin back off on this again--I saw in a recent FB post of Reprolabel's that 15 years ago, when they founded, their first set was G1 Wheeljack, and it was actually given away for free. (Maybe there was postage involved, I wasn't there.) I largely suspect that the only reason these things cost money now is because of the larger cost involved in running the operation--webspace, designing the stickers, making sure they work, printing costs, etc. Also, I just remembered--the first time there was any "upgrade kit" stickers for the website was waaaay back in that same early era, when Zobovor (of ATT and oldschool TF fandom fame) who asked the dude if they could print up some custom stickers that Zob would design--specifically, they were a G1 Dinobots set that was made up to make the Dinobots look more cartoon-accurate. (If I'm not wrong, these stickers are actually still on the website, although with no credit to Zob.) So, y'know. Still a for-fans-by-fans thing.

It looks nice enough and there’s nothing too wrong with it (the deco is somewhat unspectacular and mine’s minorly scuffed in a couple places), but it doesn’t feel like there’s so much going on here to warrant *being* a Masterpiece, particularly when you compare it to the laundry list of nifty little features that the old MP-01 had that didn’t make it to this remake. At best, this really just feels like a (way) above-average Leader Class Optimus Prime, not so much some high-end apex-of-design Adult Collectible.

This is half the reason I don't own any Masterpieces. I got Starscream when he initially came out, was really kind of disappointed with him, sold him off sometime around early 2013, never missed him. I still want Grimlock, mind, but that's because he's still probably the best damn Grimlock toy possible. (FOC Grimlock is the best substitute, even if he's drawn by Rob Liefield.)

[BWprowl]

Just wanting to spin back off on this again--I saw in a recent FB post of Reprolabel's that 15 years ago, when they founded, their first set was G1 Wheeljack, and it was actually given away for free. (Maybe there was postage involved, I wasn't there.) I largely suspect that the only reason these things cost money now is because of the larger cost involved in running the operation--webspace, designing the stickers, making sure they work, printing costs, etc. Also, I just remembered--the first time there was any "upgrade kit" stickers for the website was waaaay back in that same early era, when Zobovor (of ATT and oldschool TF fandom fame) who asked the dude if they could print up some custom stickers that Zob would design--specifically, they were a G1 Dinobots set that was made up to make the Dinobots look more cartoon-accurate. (If I'm not wrong, these stickers are actually still on the website, although with no credit to Zob.) So, y'know. Still a for-fans-by-fans thing.

I understand these guys are providing a rather niche 'service' with the reproduction old stickers and all (and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I've thought about getting some for my Deluxe Insecticons). The upgrade sets more annoy me on a personal level than a principled one or whatever, and the only other thing I take issue with is the faction symbol stickers, especially given that those are *logos* and that there are official alternatives available. On the other, hand, come on, all you'd need is a trip to Office Max to get some sticker paper if you really wanted to print out your own faction symbol stickers, so if Hasbro and these guys just want to give people the option of paying for convenience, that's on them.

Say what I've said about ReproLabels, they aren't even close to the shadiest among the ‘third party’ producers.

This is half the reason I don't own any Masterpieces. I got Starscream when he initially came out, was really kind of disappointed with him, sold him off sometime around early 2013, never missed him. I still want Grimlock, mind, but that's because he's still probably the best damn Grimlock toy possible. (FOC Grimlock is the best substitute, even if he's drawn by Rob Liefield.)

MP Grimlock’s actually great, he really delivers on the promise. Hell, one reason I never got FoC Grimlock was because he was just A Grimlock and I already had The Grimlock (why hasn’t anyone recolored the FoC mold in G2 blue? I could pull the trigger easy, then!).

But Prime…a lot of it has to do with the cost, I think. For just $70-80, I would probably be pretty satisfied with him on the level that I am Grimlock (or ROTF Leader Starscream, or that DOTM Jetwing retool of ROTF Leader Prime), but for nearly double that… I mean, I know he comes with the trailer and other bonus shit, and that really bumps up the ‘value’, but still. The rest of it really is because of MP-01 and everything we know he did, and you’d think that even with the reduction in size and addition of a trailer that actually Does Stuff, they still could have approximated on MP-10 all the cool, fun, Buzz Lightyear shit MP-01 did. As it is, knowing that there’s another ‘Masterpiece’ OP out that that DOES do that stuff that this doesn’t? It makes you feel shortchanged, because you KNOW it could be even more perfect than it is. Especially given all the cost and effort in even GETTING one in the first place.

[Shockwave]

Just wanting to spin back off on this again--I saw in a recent FB post of Reprolabel's that 15 years ago, when they founded, their first set was G1 Wheeljack, and it was actually given away for free. (Maybe there was postage involved, I wasn't there.) I largely suspect that the only reason these things cost money now is because of the larger cost involved in running the operation--webspace, designing the stickers, making sure they work, printing costs, etc. Also, I just remembered--the first time there was any "upgrade kit" stickers for the website was waaaay back in that same early era, when Zobovor (of ATT and oldschool TF fandom fame) who asked the dude if they could print up some custom stickers that Zob would design--specifically, they were a G1 Dinobots set that was made up to make the Dinobots look more cartoon-accurate. (If I'm not wrong, these stickers are actually still on the website, although with no credit to Zob.) So, y'know. Still a for-fans-by-fans thing.

I understand these guys are providing a rather niche 'service' with the reproduction old stickers and all (and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I've thought about getting some for my Deluxe Insecticons). The upgrade sets more annoy me on a personal level than a principled one or whatever, and the only other thing I take issue with is the faction symbol stickers, especially given that those are *logos* and that there are official alternatives available. On the other, hand, come on, all you'd need is a trip to Office Max to get some sticker paper if you really wanted to print out your own faction symbol stickers, so if Hasbro and these guys just want to give people the option of paying for convenience, that's on them.

Say what I've said about ReproLabels, they aren't even close to the shadiest among the ‘third party’ producers.

It's not quite that simple. Office supply stores usually don't carry shiny chrome stock or gold or chrome gold or... you get my point. Reprolabels did originally start off by offering faction logos that were just printed on sheets that the got from somewhere. And they weren't exactly Hasbro quality back then (the ink would rub off after a while and you had to cut the logos out yourself). Now, they come in every concievable backing, white, silver chrome, silver not chrome, gold chrome, gold not chrome, clear, and large rubsign, regular rubsign and small rubsign. Also the "full color" logos, looking like they did on the box art. And they are also precut as opposed to having to try and cut the thing exactly yourself. That technology was probably not cheap. Also, on top of that, their stuff is actually better quality than most of Hasbro's now. Last time I had the original Insecticons, the Hasbro stickers fell off and scratched with barely any handling at all while the reprolabels went on perfectly. Long story short, yeah it started off as paying for a convenience but now they're at a level of producing something that is of a quality that is what Hasbro should be including with their products but isn't.

[JediTricks]

World's smallest quadcopter - $18.99 from China with shipping, it's pretty zippy and could use one more axis of trim, so it's a challenge to keep from hitting stuff, but it's cool none the less.

Hoth/Icee T-shirt

Deadpool-Aid T-shirt

Star Wars Rebels Phantom with Kanan - pretty cool set, nice vehicle with decent gimmicks, figure looks good too.

SW Rebels Inquisitor, Ezra, Chopper, and Kallus - buy one get one 40% off today. Mostly pretty good for simple figures, although Chopper is a bit lesser-than compared to the rest.

New catalytic converter for the car.

Smog cert, tags and up to date registration.

[BWprowl]

Found and picked up AoE Snarl over the weekend. That rounds off the Dinobots and most likely takes me out of the AoE toyline (and nothing of value was lost!). Snarl, at least, continues the tradition of the Dinobots in this line by being remarkably solid toys. Fantastic use of clear plastic, it works well for the sails in beast mode, and creates an awesome-looking effect in robot mode. The section of sails splitting on his back is a simple aesthetic maneuver, but a very effective one. The whole transformation works like a dream, really, even if I do forget to move the waist back more than I should. Weirdest part of it is the heads: His dino head folds into his left leg for transformation, so he has a second, false dino head part connected in his right leg, seemingly purely for symmetry! Utterly bizarre! Hands are weird too, being attached, like, sideways, to the insides of his wrists? And they rotate at this weird, vertical-almost angle? Super-weird, but it’s better than Sideways Hands or no wrist joints at all, and they let him point his battle axe effectively. The axe itself is super-cool, reminds me heavily of older Beast Wars weapons, where you would ‘build’ them out of different detached bits of beast kibble. Getting him to hold it is tricky, but works once he does, and it’s just an awesome, mean-lookin’ weapon. Hell the whole toy live up to its name, being one of the meanest-looking Stegosaurs I’ve seen in some time, and the robot mode is no slouch either, with its pointy, angry headsculpt with its little toothy grin, and the whole thing being so covered in spikes and pointy bits it can be somewhat pokey to hold. It’s a cool, fun toy, and a good way for the Dinobot subgroup to finish up.

Now to pose them all together in a Super Sentai stance.

[138 Scourge]

BBTS hooked me up today with Cosmos and Payload! I'm excited to get these dudes. Funny story, though. Back when I put in the preorder, I said "Now that I've put in this order they'll show up everywhere in stores". Well, they did not, so I went ahead and paid the money for Cos, they shipped it out and all was good. Then yesterday, when it was too late to cancel the order anyway, I wander into Target and sure enough, three of this sumbitch were just hangin' there. Of course.

Ah well. This little dude is very cool, and I like how the mini-con partner guy is thematically appropriate. Couple of space bros, why not?

I'd almost ordered Swerve with Cosmos, until I realized that I didnt need to get the whole wave and didn't care about Swerve. But looking at the toy, Swerve looks really good and now I'm pretty excited for Gears, when he shows up.

[JediTricks]

Star Wars Rebels Zeb Orellios / Stormtrooper Mission Series pack - decent sculpts but the likeness on Zeb isn't really his type of expression, and the stormtrooper is super cartoony.

Star Wars Hot Wheels Vader, X-wing Luke, Chewbacca, and Tusken Raider - a fun series, I got them for $3.47 at WM because retail price of $4 from TRU is slightly more than I want to pay. Most have a lot of great paint that's well-applied, all of them have very clever sculpting, and the Luke & Vader cars have fantastic light-piped lightsaber running boards (Vader's light-pipe is from underneath though).

[andersonh1]

4 volumes of Golden Age Superman newspaper strips, three of them dailies and one the Sunday strips. These weren't really on my radar for a long time, since I was mainly interested in the comics, but a lot of them are by Siegel and Shuster (or their ghost artists), so it's yet another glimpse into how the original creators viewed their character. And as I mentioned over in the retro comics thread, some of the very familiar elements of Superman's origin first appeared in the newspaper strips rather than the comics, so they're more significant when it comes to the history of the character than I thought.

[138 Scourge]

Literary haul!

Got Stephen King's new book Thursday night. Finished it Sunday. Ol' boy has not lost his knack of making a book that i just can not put down.

Then Saturday I traded in a gift card at Half Price Books and got the first three volumes of Atomic Robo. I'd tried out this series a couple years ago, but the first arc I got wss good, but didn't grab me. These three grabbed me. Have to track down the rest now, I guess.