April Hauls

[onslaught86]

'Cause it's April here now. Ha-ha.

- Animated Wreck-Gar. He finally showed here, and just in time for a half-price clearance on Animated Megas, sweetbix. And he is, too. This is one of those delicious pop culture reference toys that only show up once every so often and simply must be owned for that. He's a very..'nice' figure. It's hard to describe, but cheerful smiling innocent Wreck-Gar is a cute change from the usual death-dealing alien robots we get.

[BWprowl]

Agreed on Wreck-Gar. The boundless optimism they've sculpted into that toy is downright infectious.

So last night I assembled all the Activators I've somehow come to own, and realized that with Bumblebee, Starscream, Megatron, Grimlock, and the Ratchet that I just got with Sunstorm, I've got a fair amount of the expensive little bastards. So I came to the conclusion that I might as well get an Optimus, since I like the design, and it would help complete the picture. So I set out to Target after work to find one, which I did with no difficulty. Frankly, he's not quite as nifty as a lot of the others I've gotten, mainly in that his transformation isn't as fluid. The upper body Activates fine, but then there's still a whole two-or-three steps to contend with on the legs, and getting it all back together is a mess (Ratchet's wonderfully fluid resetting has spoiled me in this regard). Still, he appeals on the rest of the levels that Activators do. He's a very good, very posable and fiddly pocket-size representation of Optimus in robot mode, and at least passable as a vehicle. My only other issue is that I honestly wish his faceplate was down, since that's how I've come to know Animated Optimus. Actually, you know what would really make this toy better? Activators Sentinel Prime. Activators are an addiction: I know they're bad for me, but I just keep coming back for more! I'm definitely steering clear of Lockdown though, that thing looks like a mess.

Anyway, just as I was about to head out of the toy aisle with Optimus, what do I spot hiding behing a whole row of Animated? TFU Ratchet! Just the one (and that means that Hot Shot was here too, dang!), someone must've stashed it back there in hopes of coming back later. But all's fair in love and toys, so I grabbed it for myself, haha! Haven't opened it yet, but I'm one of those who dug the TFU Ironhide mold, so I'm not too worried. Now I've just got to trawl around for Hot Shot...

[andersonh1]

I just picked up TFU Ratchet myself. Drove over to Toys R Us at lunch, and Universe deluxes were still 9.99. I'm not used to TRU being the least expensive place around for Transformers.

[onslaught86]

So last night I assembled all the Activators I've somehow come to own, and realized that with Bumblebee, Starscream, Megatron, Grimlock, and the Ratchet that I just got with Sunstorm, I've got a fair amount of the expensive little bastards.

Me too. Megs, Prime, 'Bee, 'Screamer, Thundy, Grims, Lockdown, Ratchet. Don't like Ratchet, Grimlock, or Lockdown much, more's the pity. Ratchet's just Boring, and doesn't pull that transformation off anywhere near as well as Machine Wars Hoist did. Grimlock's arms are too long, and his head has no clearance, although he's a bit niftier than the larger counterpart. Lockdown, on the other hand, is just a bit of a mess and doesn't pull the design off properly. He's like Igor Lockdown, all deformed, heh.

'Screamer and Thundy I find just okay, they're almost a bit plain and tacky. There's a nifty superdeformed Valkyrie feel to them, yet the plasticky guns and plainly sculpted faces let them down. Aaand I want Dirge anyway, damn his nice colours.
Bumblebee is several flavours of awesome, however, for not having a cheaty chest and for being the right size. I dig him a lot, and must nab Cliffy. The button being the light makes him that much neater, especially with his fairly ambiguous expression.

Prime himself I dig a fair bit too. His transformation took some getting used to, and I wish the wheels lined up properly at the front when you peg it all together, but he's well articulated and neat. Animated Prime's design is one I dig a surprising amount in toy form, and Mega AniPrime gets a lot of love from me too. Maybe it's my love of Primes skewing my opinion here, but I like him more than most Activators I own. Hm.

Megatron's definitely the other favourite, though. He sports the same basic transformation as Grims, but does it better, and holds together well. Nicer proportions than Super Megs, and spades of articulation for his size, including intentional ankles and swivel wrists. Plus epic makeshift punching action from transformation springs, glee! Thoughts on him?

Activators are an addiction: I know they're bad for me, but I just keep coming back for more!

Flipchanger Basics, man, Flipchanger Basics.

[Dominic]

Beast Wars Omnibus

Maximum Dinobots #4
Spotlight Jazz

JSA # 25
Flash Rebirth 1

GI Joe #4


Dom

[BWprowl]

Beast Wars Omnibus

God Dammit Dom.

Flash Rebirth 1

God Dammit Dom!

(Prowl, you're buying Battle for the Cowl)
God Dammit Prowl!!

Megatron's definitely the other favourite, though. He sports the same basic transformation as Grims, but does it better, and holds together well. Nicer proportions than Super Megs, and spades of articulation for his size, including intentional ankles and swivel wrists. Plus epic makeshift punching action from transformation springs, glee! Thoughts on him?

I think he's a'ight. I don't see how you think he does the transformation better. He smooshes his body unconvincingly underneath the coptor, and the legs on mine don't stay clipped up worth a damn. Feels like a write-off, honestly. The robot mode is admittedly nifty and poseable and fiddly as all hell, but I don't care for the way they had to spread out his paint apps. His hands just look ridiculous, and his legs aren't much better. And frankly, this is one Activator that is severely hurt by the lack of weapons, expecially since the damn fusion cannon is right THERE, but can't detach to plug into his arm or anything, boo. I actually favor Grimlock's interpretation of that basic design. And ActiGrims even has one leg up on VoyaGrims, in that he can keep his mouth open in beast mode. He's an ideal computerside companion, though I find that all the Activators do that well, to some degree.

Are there any other really good 'Desk Toys' besides the Activators? Any single GI Joe tends to be good for this purpose, but what about TFs?

[onslaught86]

I think he's a'ight. I don't see how you think he does the transformation better. He smooshes his body unconvincingly underneath the coptor, and the legs on mine don't stay clipped up worth a damn. Feels like a write-off, honestly.

Hm, I get better flipchanging from my Megs than my Grimlock. Grims is a bit of a pain to clip together into dino mode, then the head never wants to fully transform and has to be done manually. Haven't had any issues with the leg clipping, and I usually move Megs' legs down before transforming him. Eh, I like it more than Super Megs' transformation anyway.

The robot mode is admittedly nifty and poseable and fiddly as all hell, but I don't care for the way they had to spread out his paint apps. His hands just look ridiculous, and his legs aren't much better. And frankly, this is one Activator that is severely hurt by the lack of weapons, expecially since the damn fusion cannon is right THERE, but can't detach to plug into his arm or anything, boo.

Definitely head you on the fusion cannon, though I find the punching action makes up for the lack of melee weapons. Nice that they gave him fistholes at all, really, I think he may be able to hold Spychanger guns but I've none here to test with. Hm.
The paint apps do irk a little, although I find the pearliness of the plastic a little more offputting, since he should be dark grey.

Are there any other really good 'Desk Toys' besides the Activators? Any single GI Joe tends to be good for this purpose, but what about TFs

I keep TFs on my desk at work. Surprisingly, a few non-transforming ones are quite fiddly. I have Robot Replicas Barricade and Prime, and *cringe* Revoltech Convoy there. Do have both blue and red Rambles there too. Stockade and JoeMegs stayed around for a long time, mainly due to the boundless glee I got from holding JoeMegs and saying "Tanks for holding." I know, I should be shot.

Universe Superion lasted there a few weeks too, it's nice having a whole team at hand that can be tidied into a single robot if five is too many.

[andersonh1]

Activators have never seemed worth the cost. For $1 more (at least until recently) I could get a deluxe. Activators are essentially overpriced basics. Sure, they look pretty good in-package, but the price has always put me off.

[Dominic]

Robot Heroes Arcee and Rumble
(got it for the Arcee....)


And, on my desk at work I have:

-Custom Red Lazer (old UK recolor of Cobra Commander) from a 25A CC body.
-Custom Quarrel (old UK recolor of Scarlett) from a 25A Pilot Scarlett.
-Slightly modified 2%A Snake-eyes (single=carded visor head on a battle damaged comic-pack body)
-Combat Hero Serpentor, modified to have an arror through his head.

-unaltered Major Bludd

-TFU Sideswipe in G2 colors.
-"Armada" Demolishor and Blackout in "Night Attack" colors.
-Earth, Beast, Speed, and Giant keys (custom painted).

-Legends scale "Animated" Prime

-2 "Star Wars" Imperial Guards

-1 Space Marine, with flesh colored armor.

Dom
-notes that Serpentor's arrow needs to be fixed.

[BWprowl]

Hm, I get better flipchanging from my Megs than my Grimlock. Grims is a bit of a pain to clip together into dino mode, then the head never wants to fully transform and has to be done manually. Haven't had any issues with the leg clipping, and I usually move Megs' legs down before transforming him. Eh, I like it more than Super Megs' transformation anyway.

Huh, so our preferences would seem to be determined by that damnable Quality Control. My Grimlock clips together just fine (and the head Activates...sometimes), but my Megatron hardly holds together at all. So I...end up liking Grimlock more...

By the way, since I was thinking about them in context last night, I quickly compared my Activators to my Joes, and discovered that Activators are actually very close to 3.75" scale. This is pretty cool to me for some reason. I could actually get behind a big, wide-ranging line of 3.75" Transformers toys, Activators or not.