movie toys review thread

[Dominic]

I do not see much call for this, as the line is just about over. But, there was a good quantity of product released during our recent down-time.


I do not live near a TrU, and only got these through a series of convoluted antics. So, I can offer no help for people who are looking for these.

And, now, the reviews.

Jetstorm: This is a recolor of "Cybertron" Jetfire. The key is a purple "X" key. (The paint on this is especially bad. I do not expect much from the keys, but the faction sigils should be roughly centered.) The jet form is a sort of generalized cargo plane. (David Van Domelen lists several types of cargo plane, but no specific analogy for this toy.)

I do not have a "Classics" Astrotrain, so I cannot comment on the unofficial combination between the two. The toy itself is generally pleasing, thought out of scale. (Looking at it, the plan should be about 8 feet long, assuming a scale comparable to an average deluxe car. Or, I could just display it next to "Cybertron" Metroplex.) The transform process is unique, with the legs folding up into the plane's fuselage at the knees, rather than hips as would be expected.

The bio-note lists Jetstorm as being willing to do whatever it takes to win. It is nice to see a non-nutty Decepticon who is not a megalogmaniac or retarded in some way.

Possible Quality Control note: Both of the missile launchers packaged with my copy seem intended to have been mounted on the left wing. I do not know if this is unique to mine, or if Hasbro simply used the same mold for both launchers.

Grade: B Not a perfect mold, but definitely worth looking at if one can afford it.


Wingblade: This is a recolor of "Cybertron" Wingsaber. The key is a translucent red Autotbot facton key. The vehicle mode is a very liberalized A-10. Basically, it is a snubby looking bomber type thing with a big horking gun on the front. It actually looks alien enough that I will probably fold this toy into my eventual "War Planet" display. If nothing else, the clunky under-carriage on the plane keeps it from looking too "real" as an actually jet.

The transform is flat in some places (the robot has stiff wings and a good sized backpack of plane bits) and innovative in others (the legs as rear engines is a stroke of genius). The resulting robot has a bit more color than the plane, mostly in the form of muted greens on the chest. The gun hands are a nice touch, and are consistent with the "fire power" theme of the mold.

The bio note has several interesting notes. Wingblade is an aggressive Autobot (common among the recolors) referenced as having many "confirmed deactivations" to his credit. If this were a main character, I would read this bio-note as justifying later iterations of the character, as it mentioned him frequently changing between, and training in, many forms.

Grade: B Worth looking at, though it would be nice to have a "Cybertron" Prime released to go with this toy.


Mudflap: This is a recolor of "Cybertron" Mudflap. The key is the same as Jetstorm's,. but with a cleanly applied sigil. 2 years back, I found the "Cybertron" Mudflap figure on deep discount at Target. I grabbed it on impulse. It was largely the same principle at work here, minus the discount. I was in a TrU (a rare occurence) with Lewis, and took at look at the bio-note. Mudflap is an unhappy Decepticon with doubts about his life and the purpose of his faction. He vents his rage and frustration on Autobot enemies, making it ever more impossible for him to defect.

The colors also help on this toy. The (mostly yellow) works well for the crane mode, and there seems to be better paint work on this iteration of the mold than the last one. (I have not done a side by side comparison, as my "Cybertron" Mudflap is in storage.) The transform is, of course, oddly satisfying, but creatively non-conventional but still clean. The largest problem with this toy is the kibble found one both arms.

Grade: B This is a good mold, and worth picking up, especially if you do not have the "Cybertron" toy.


Inferno: This is a recolor of "Armada" Redalert. This is one of my favorite molds from the "Armada" line, as it largely fulfilled the ambitions and promise of the line. The mold was designed to incorporate gimmicks and to be consistent with a specific character. While Inferno is a different chracter, there is still a "medical/rescue" theme with this character. On top of that, as this is an "Armada" toy, it has the first, (and likely only), Minicon in movie packaging.

The rescue truck alternate mold looks fantastic in red, and, (unlike most every other "Unicron Trilogy" recolor), is roughly consistent in scale to other movie Autobots. (Mind you, it is designed in a completely different aesthetic than the movie toys. The "Reign of Starscream" comic has shown these characters drawn in a movie-consistent aesthetic, but that does not reconcile a display shelf.) The sound-chip is unchanged, declaring "Red-alert! Red-alert!", followed by siren noises. (It actually works better now than it did on Redalert the characters, as Inferno is not calling out his own name.)

The robot form is clunky looking, but still conveys the "medical/rescue" theme. As with Redalert, the left hand is missing, and can be replaced with tools. And, the Minicon (a small crane) can be mounted on a platform attached to the left leg. (If the Minicon had apparent guns, it would present some interesting questions about a Cybertronian equivalent of the Geneva Conventions.)

Sadly, the Minicon is not renamed, and is still listed as Longarm.

The bio-note is one of the more interesting that I have seen in a while. The profile notes that while Ratchet repairs Autobots physically, Inferno repairs their minds. Apparently, when Autobots are feeling worn down by the war, Inferno downloads patches that make them feel better. So, best case scenario. Inferno is dealing robo-prozac, pumping Autobots full of happy pills. Or, more morbidly, he is actually "re-educating" his comrades. Either way, it is interesting to see this sort of character in the mix. (I tend to dislike the "bad ass warrior from hell" paradigm, and actually prefer the mundane infrastructure characters as they show more creativity by the design teams. Sadly, Longarm does not get much elaboration. I will just assume he is a lab assistant.

Dom
-one more wave of Target scouts to go....

[Onslaught Six]

Grade: B Worth looking at, though it would be nice to have a "Cybertron" Prime released to go with this toy.

Yuck. Not that Galaxy Convoy is a 'bad' toy, he's just very much not a good idea here in the Movie line. I can't think of any decent repaint, either. Except maybe Ginrai!

The colors also help on this toy. The (mostly yellow) works well for the crane mode, and there seems to be better paint work on this iteration of the mold than the last one. (I have not done a side by side comparison, as my "Cybertron" Mudflap is in storage.) The transform is, of course, oddly satisfying, but creatively non-conventional but still clean. The largest problem with this toy is the kibble found one both arms.

The fact that his arms have huge kibble is offset by the fact that one turns into a HUGE FRICKIN' SAWBLADE. Awesome. He'll cut you so bad, you'll wish he didn't cut you so bad.

The "Reign of Starscream" comic has shown these characters drawn in a movie-consistent aesthetic, but that does not reconcile a display shelf.)

...It has? That rules.

The sound-chip is unchanged, declaring "Red-alert! Red-alert!", followed by siren noises. (It actually works better now than it did on Redalert the characters, as Inferno is not calling out his own name.)

Woo woo woo!

The bio-note is one of the more interesting that I have seen in a while. The profile notes that while Ratchet repairs Autobots physically, Inferno repairs their minds. Apparently, when Autobots are feeling worn down by the war, Inferno downloads patches that make them feel better. So, best case scenario. Inferno is dealing robo-prozac, pumping Autobots full of happy pills. Or, more morbidly, he is actually "re-educating" his comrades. Either way, it is interesting to see this sort of character in the mix. (I tend to dislike the "bad ass warrior from hell" paradigm, and actually prefer the mundane infrastructure characters as they show more creativity by the design teams. Sadly, Longarm does not get much elaboration. I will just assume he is a lab assistant.

I really Do Not Like This. It screams of that same "Let's just reprogram Bruticus to be stupid and not rebellious!" bit from G1. It's Bad, and it dehumanizes the robots. I know that's contradictory, but still.

[Dominic]

I would not mid a movie Ultra Magnus repaint of "Cybertron" Prime. Or hell, even a new character. Remember new characters? Eh? Eh?


"Reign of Starscream" is a great book. Go check out my reviews of it. Using non-movie toys is the least of its virtues.


As for Inferno and brain-wiping, it works. There is the precedent set by the Combaticons in G1. In early G1, the Dinobots were kept in a closet when they were not in use. (I think that was shown in "Heavy Metal War", but I am not sure.) In the comics, Superion and his compnents got mind-wiped after blowing their first mission. (Man, that is harsh.) And, there are plenty of people who would probably take that ride themselves. If you by into the (not unreasonable) idea that Transformers think like people, Inferno actually seems pretty benign. If nothing else, the card implies that he stops Autobots from killing themselves. Prevening suicide via lobotomy at least preserves the subject's use as a soldier, if not one with a good memory.

I just like characters that have a purpose in their faction beyond "resident over-powered RP character wank=fodder". If movie Payload was not such a terrible toy, it would be one of my favorites by virtue of the bio. I like "Classics" Prowl for similar reasons. G1 Smokescreen is a political officer. Give me those guys over that guys who "can summon the power of a fart from Primus" any day.

Dom

[CrossRook]

I did always wonder as a child about the citizens and/or noncombatant troops. So we seem to have a few of them now, even if they are repaints.

[Dominic]

It all comes down to how you define "non-combatant".

The Geneva Convention requires that actual civilians be left out. But, Inferno and these other guys have faction sigils.

Medics, such as Ratchet, would also be legally, if not practically, protected under the conventions. But, guys who can legally fight are fair game. (And, Ratchet himself is armed.) Even under the Geneva Conventions we have, quarter-masters, like Cross-hairs or couriers like Payload would be fair targets. (Both factions had plenty of admin and support characters in G1. Soundwave was communications. Prowl was admin. Most of them were warriors secondary to some other function.) Of course, all of this assumes that Transformers would have a similar agreement to the Geneva Conventions, and similar military organization.

Given that the Autobot/Decepticon war seems to be "total" in nature, that might go a long way to explaing the lack of TFs who are not one or the other, and why Minicons and such seem to have such a nasty time of it.

Of course, if there is a TF Geneva convention, then Inferno, (or "Armada" Red Alert and "Universe" Prowl), raises an interesing question. How would one deal with an armed Minicon standing on that platform? Would the Minicon being connected or not matter?

Dom

[Onslaught Six]

I just like characters that have a purpose in their faction beyond "resident over-powered RP character wank=fodder". If movie Payload was not such a terrible toy, it would be one of my favorites by virtue of the bio. I like "Classics" Prowl for similar reasons. G1 Smokescreen is a political officer. Give me those guys over that guys who "can summon the power of a fart from Primus" any day.

I dunno. I mean, I like those characters too and frown upon uber cosmic gibberwank characters. I'm glad Inferno's 'using new ideas,' but I don't 'like those ideas.'

[Dominic]

What do you think of Mudflap?

Dom

[Onslaught Six]

Mudflap's pretty spiffy, all in all. The fact that he creates such a paradox for himself is ironic and funny.

See, I like it when new bios do stuff like this--it's just that I don't really like 'any' situation where it just turns out "Oh, well, they're robots, so we can just reprogram each other to do whatever we want." It entirely defeats the purpose of them being sentient/sapient in the first place.

Not just that, but there was a discussion on ATT about this, too--what does this mean for the rest of the TF universe? Y'know how Thundercracker is an unloyal rebel? Why doesn't Megs just have Soundwave or Shockwave or someone smart just reprogram him so he's not like that? Or Starscream's backstabbery?

And what about the Aerialbots, in the comics? Their entire character arc was that they were pretty much childish failures, and they had to learn past their own shortcomings.

The whole concept pretty much puts an end to much of the character growth possibilities of TF fiction unless they actually go into 'why' this kind of practice isn't more common--and I don't see 'that' happening any time soon, so.

[Dominic]

It does not defeat the purpose of them being sentient/sapient because the reprogrammng does not diminish that. it does however allow them to mold their personalities. Some people take mind-altering drugs (medical and recreatonal) all the time. Others do not. A similar dynamic could apply here.

And, while change and growth are important, Prime needed the Aerialbots ready to fight, not ready to learn. If they had to work through their doubts, they would be less effective fighters. If anything, it makes more sense that Prime did order them brain-wiped early on.

I always assumed that Thundercracker was quiet about his doubts. (He never voiced them in context. At most there has been a thought bubble or two.) If nothing else, the time and administrative costs of lobotomizing troops, (to say nothing of morale costs) would be high enough that Megatron would ignore a quiet doubt, even if he knew about it.

As for Starscream, perhaps reprogramming him would also nullify the virtues that Megatron needed Starscream for? The old character profiles list Starscream as being "very good at what he does."

With Inferno. I got the sense that it was Autobots going to him saying "Please, I just cannot sleep at night. When I am idle, I cannot help by remember 'what' happened at Tyger Pax. I just want it to stop."

Dom
-still needs to get Crosshairs.

[Dominic]

Grindcore:

It looks like we will be getting more movie-themed store-exclusive repaints. As I hear it, some of these were intended to be "Universe" toys, but Wal*Mart wanted them in movie packaging. (I guess nothing says, "We think the most of our customers" like putting toys in packaging that references a movie from over a year ago.)

In any case, Grindcore is a recolor of "Cybertron" Landmine. Despite still being an Autobot, Grindcore is mostly colored green, evoking the old Constructicons. (The molded Autobot sigil keeps the mold firmly rooted in the Autobot camp.)

A few years back, I jumped on the band-wagon of people praising this mold. There is just something appealling about a robot that turns into a bull-dozer and then to some kind of attack vehicle.

As this is a recolored toy from "Cyb ertron", it has a key and a gimmick. The key is the same candy-red that has been used for Big Daddy's and Wingblade's keys. (I was actually hoping for more Autobot faction keys a few months back. I have just about had my fill now though.) The key gimmick in this case consists of spikes that pop out of the rear wheels of the vehicle. In robot mode, they look like something drawn from the G2 comic, in "attack vehicle" mode, these wheels flip up to become some kind of vehicular skirmish weapon.

The colors are a bit flatter on this toy than the previous uses of the mold, making the robot mode a bit less interesting. But, it is worth looking at if you do not have any previous uses of the mold. (Aside from "Cybertron" Landmine, there was an incredibly stupid BotCon exclusive a few years back.)

My copy has a loose wheel/fender. I have no idea if this problem is common.

Grade: B Not perfect, or even as good as Landmine, but not a bad toy in its own right.


Dom
-catching up.....