August Hauls!

[138 Scourge]

So this month's started off pretty well.

Went out after work and finally found the new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic. Not the best of the series' run, but even when Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill aren't on top of their game, they're still pretty damn good.

Then, arriving home, I found someone had left a George Foreman grill at my doorstep. Of course, upon further inspection it proved to be a box from Shockwave! Inside? Oh, no big deal, just G2 Slag, all minty in his package. And Henkei Ghost Starscream, which is fuckin' beautiful. Took me forever to complete the Seeker gang, but I've managed it. Mostly. Except for Sunstorm. But still... Yeah, I may have missed both the previous Starscreams, but now I got season three Starscream, so that works.

Also, dude threw in some nice-ass bonuses. Legends Prime, Jetfire, and the Fallen from that K-Mart five-pack, I'm guessing. Someone's losin' a face tonight. And then the real neat extras, Insecticon and friggin' Sunspot. I think that's what he's called. Yellow and white Skystalker repaint. I'd actually been sort of wanting this guy, so it was really nice to find in there.

Thanks, Trekwave, you're good people.

[BWprowl]

Man, is anyone else noticing a bigass toy section reset at their local stores? Grabbed Cyberverse Shockwave's Fusion Tank at Target, which is...not the best Cyberverse set in the world. They actually shrink down the Shockwave design without simplifying things too much, but maybe they flew too close to the sun on this one. I cannot believe a toy with this many pegs and clips to hold it together in vehicle mode could be this unstable. The arms flat-out do not work in this mode, you're better off not pegging them into the tank body if you want everything lined up properly, not to mention to be able to easily hook the trailer up. Speaking of, the trailer is cool as a tank extension, and kind of a failure as everything else. The tower/base mode is kinda neat, and I like having that higher level for little guys to stand on and operate the cannon, but it's kind of dodgy in terms of standing up, mainly because it's so top-heavy and the 'foot' of it doesn't lock in or anything. 'Mobile Weapon' mode or whatever is a joke, I'm almost certain they made it up after the fact, were it not for those handles at the back for Shockwave to hold onto. It's just so lame and uninspired, especially when the hole in the bottom of Base Mode's 'foot' and a corresponding peg in the removable cannon makes me think there had to be another base-type mode that got abandoned in favor of this...thing. But the whole toy is just so nebulous and crappy that there's no way to be sure. I have no idea how the people behind the box photos got Shockwave's cannon mounted on the side of the larger gun in Mobile Weapon mode for the back-of-the-box pics, there's just no way for it to do that. Speaking of the cannon, its tube is too short to let him move the gun around freely when its pegged in, which I guess is why they compensated by making it fall out of any and all peg holes at every opportunity. It just will not stay in. Also, it and Shockwave's ribcage bits are made out of soft, rubbery plastic, and after what happened to Legends-class Scorpinok, I'm rather afraid of the use of that stuff at this scale. But we'll see. Honestly, the actual Shockwave toy is alright, but the lameness of the trailer/base just cripples the value. If you want a Commander-class Shockwave, you may just want to wait for a single-pack release. And listen for any stories of crumbly soft plastic.

Anyway, among other things involved in the aforementioned big-ass toy reset (Young Justice toys! Yaaaay! Oh wait, they're by Mattel! Booooo!) was an assortment of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood figures, so I grabbed the Doctor. No, I've never actually placed AssBro, but if you think I'm passing on a mo'fuggin' Plague Doctor action figure, you're crazy. Considering this assortment also includes Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolo Machiavelli, I could actually end up with a few of these things.

[Shockwave]

TFCC Sideburn. The Sideburn coloring really works on this mold and will go well with Botcon Sky Byte.

[Onslaught Six]

Scorpinok

[BWprowl]

I knew I was gonna spell it wrong. And now I can't even go back and correct it, thanks.

[Onslaught Six]

It's really easy to get into the habit. Just print out that picture and tape it next to your computer.

[andersonh1]

TFCC Sideburn. The Sideburn coloring really works on this mold and will go well with Botcon Sky Byte.

Mine arrived today as well, and I have to agree the colors look great on the Classics Hot Rod figure.

Dom, I'm glad I held off on Generations Wheeljack, because I found one at Target today.

[138 Scourge]

Yeah, I've been seeing more of those guys at my Targets and Wal-Marts lately, too. Plus with the new wave having most of 'em in it, I figured you wouldn't be wanting to do the whole interstate commerce thing on 'em. Still, if you have trouble with Thundercrackers, lemme know, I've been seeing a fair amount of those.

[Dominic]

I am likely goint to start grinding them into custom fodder then.

[Onslaught Six]

Finally got my TFCC Speedbreaker/Sideburn/whatever in. He's nifty! Also, the best repaints teach you things about toys you already owned. Did you know Hot Rod's leg wheels can pull out?! I didn't, and I've owned that toy since release. Anyway, just as I suspected, he looks way better when you remove the Hot Rod spoilerwings (and I'm going to remove the center part tonight with a screwdriver) given that Speedbreaker didn't have a spoiler of any kind, and certainly not a big white one. It helps to differentiate them!