Sunday 30 August 2015

Youtube Highlights

Righty, let me continue to experiment with the blog format. Today, let me draw attention to some youtubers and youtubists. People whose videos have caught my I attention, people I follow as a fan, and sometimes people I know personally. Videos are something I eventually intend to do myself, once I work up the nerve.

First off, Jazzimus_Rider, a guy whom I met/hung-with at Auto Assembly 2015, is sharing videos from the event. Here's the Peter Spellos Panel. A very nice man, Mr Spellos, he gave me a hug. And nearly everyone else.




In more Post-AA video, Thew Adams' panel has been uploaded. Said interview was hosted by Tomb Of Macula, another mate of mine. I was the dude with DEVASTATOR!




TJOmega has resurrected his “Plastic Addict” persona for a new review. And all was right with the world.





And finally, for something vaguely educational, Extra Credits has reached part 4 of its history series on the 1st Crusade. An enjoyable series, but I was honestly shocked at the endless parade of atrocities that bordered on farce. That's not a sentence I hope to use ever again.



Up next: more reviews.

Thursday 27 August 2015

A Concise Review of Prime: RID Vehicon In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Deluxe, 2012.
Modes: Robot, and vehicle.
Transformation Style: Advanced shellformer with minor automorph.
Play Patterns: Robot and vehicle, 5mm weaponry.
Points of Interest: An “army builder” representing a class of transformer, rather than a specific one.




The Good
This toy is one of deeply, deeply, deeply annoying ones were there's so much good, I can't so much review as gush. The robot mode is a functionally ideal representation of this army builder, and one that would be difficult to beat without going Masterpiece. Visually, he's full of anonymous charm with a Cylon flavour, and a light piped visor. He screams Decepticon cannon fodder, with a face, profile, and colours evoking his badge. Play value and articulation are solid. There are 21 joints in useful places, with the elbows being notably expressive, so he can facepalm and rub his chin. While light on accessories with only one gun, you can use it three ways, via clip for a gun arm, fist hole or 5mm shoulder port. The car mode meanwhile can be only be described as a compelling argument to join the Decepticon cause, as its just that gorgeous. Seriously, its easy for a black car to look cool, but this has batmobile level charisma. Again, there's a pleasing Decepticon motif to things, with the front end patterned after the symbol, and a tiny badge. There's also the suggestion of an interior. Play value is comparatively slight, but you do get 2 5mm ports for the gun. Switching between modes is also noteworthy, the toy featuring a then-revolutionary transformation scheme, which is fun and elegant. As deluxe carformers go, this is an extremely successful one.





The Bad
Probably the closest thing to an actual complaint for most people is this toy's overall size. The toy is slight for a deluxe in robot mode, compressing further into a small car. Said car also has a case of Visible Head Syndrome on the underside. My example had some very minor production scars, one of which briefly affected a thigh swivel.



The Mediocre
This toy has some minor omissions and quirks to do with its articulation, such as the waist being fixed, and the elbows looking a bit odd despite their functionality. 





The Alternatives
There is of course the famous First Edition Vehicon, which is bigger and more complicated. It is not however better, with much less elegant transformation and a smaller gun. Alternately there are legion class toys, and Japanese versions, which come with stickers and DIY Mini-cons.





The Verdict
With the mass market Prime toys being frequent victims of Hasbro cost-cutting and questionable gimmicky, its perhaps surprising how well this toy turned out. It just does a lot right in both modes, and makes the actual transformation business seem special again. As a result it has tenure on my Shelf of Awesome, and I doubt will be going elsewhere soon. If carformers appeal, get this guy.

Wednesday 26 August 2015

Post-Auto Assembly Update

Well, Auto Assembly is over. Finished. I had a damn good time, as did everyone whom went. A thousand odd people. I also spent a lot of money on toys, here's an image of them. Consider it a preview of forthcoming review fodder.


As you can see, I went mainly for the small toys, filling in some gaps and omissions. There was a couple of holy grails, such as Meantime the Real Gear watch, and Death's Head, fulfilling a desire about as hold as my Transformers fixation. I don't actually collect action figures, so I probably won't review him.  And yes, that is a sushi roll.

Devastator, you say?

Well.



Yeah, he/they are on the review pile. And yes, he can hold that pose. The review is going to be longform, and probably will materialise in early September.

Tuesday 25 August 2015

A Concise Review of Machine Wars Thundercracker In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Basic, 1996.
Modes: Robot and Dassault Rafale Jet.
Transformation Style: Spring-loaded flipchanger.
Play Patterns: Robot and aircraft, 3mm weaponry.
Points of interest: A toy intended for the cancelled Generation 2 line, resurrected for the ill-famed Machine Wars.




The Good
Thundercracker is surprisingly comprehensive for a toy of his stature, featuring elements often omitted from his modern equivalents. The jet mode has three points of foldable landing gear, weapon storage, and a separate grey plastic for the cockpit. His robot mode has an entirely reasonable eight balljoints, a gun, a what may be considered a classically Decepticon appearance. The sculpt also has a lot in the way of panel lines, backed up by stickers and paint. The spring-loaded transformation is also effective and inoffensive. There's a general feeling of competency here, and shows how much G2 got right.





The Bad
G2 also got some things wrong, and this toy didn't learn the lessons. As you can tell from the pictures, this toy looks sweet FA like Thundercracker, and continues the G2 tradition of ugly colour schemes. He resembles a knock-off, and while I'm all for the seekers being different, this is not an improvement. Most of the colour comes from the plastic, which in not ideal as the grey ends up neutering a light-piping gimmick. The flipchanging meanwhile is reliant on the friction in limb joints rather locking in somehow, which is less than ideal. He's a bit floppy in jet mode if you don't align things correctly, and the balljoints are easily detached.





The Mediocre
Like many jetformers, Thundercracker suffers from having a messy undercarriage, and less commonly, no neck joint. Both of these stem from the transformation, and are forgiveable under the circumstances. The ability to store his gun in his calves is also a little unrefined. You have to split it half, and while one pegs in, the other you have to just jam in there. It holds, but make sure the example you buy has both bits.





The Alternatives
This mould was used five times over the years, mainly in association with Japanese continuities or Beast Wars spin-offs, and in one notable case, a pre-Earth Waspinator. If the colours don't appeal, other options exist, but prices vary. If all you want is a good jetformer of similar origins, consider a Cyberjet, which are even more numerous, and largely better. There's also the Botcon 2013 re-imagining of this toy, and nearly every other version of Thundercracker.


The Verdict
While ugly, Thundercracker ticks a lot of boxes, and represents a baseline for similar toys. If a scout, legend, basic or whatever has the same strengths as this, its a good toy in my eyes. Or a least, a competent one. Something that grows on you. However, the flipchanging ends up being a net negative, and the paintjob is not easy on the eye. If you can get past either, take a chance.


Sunday 23 August 2015

Eight Fragmented Opinions

Righty folks. All being well, when this post goes up, I should be enjoying day three of Auto Assembly. Or, more likely, still asleep having stayed up till 3AM in the hotel bar. But in the run up to the convention, I tried to write some opinion pieces, to provide additional blog content. I found at first it was difficult often running about of bile and enthusiasm before finishing. But then I was reminded by a friend that opinion pieces are not necessarily solid bile, so I had a rethink. A new approach was called for, and I've spent a couple of weeks trying to stockpile articles, so maybe I'm over-doing it Just to ease myself into non-review writing, he's a few fragmented opinions which may yet form the basis of a future article if I can be bothered.


(Image sourced from here, original creator unknown.)

Warhammer: Age of Sigmar
This has been an endless storm of nerd rage pretty much from day zero, and its hard to argue with some of the haters. Games Workshop hasn't produced a points system for the game, or any equivalent system, which is necessary if you want to have a game with any appearance of fair and balanced mechanics. You can argue for days the extent to which GW games have ever been fair and balanced, short answer: not really, but they've abdicated their responsibilities here. I personally don't consider narrative and scenario play to be substitutes, I like structure. This is a crying shame, as having free rules and war scrolls were a big step in the right direction.


The Fantastic 4 Film
No, I haven't seen it. Not gonna see it. Neither will anyone else now. What exactly went wrong will be argued for a few years to come, and clearly studio politics hurt the project, but I'd point the finger at applying a grimdark, “realistic”, approach to a property where the lead character is a rubberman called Mr Fantastic. We just had Guardians of the Galaxy last year, a film with a heavily armed raccoon, and a tree with a three word vocabulary. There is no requirement for Superhero films to be serious any more, and nothing so daft it won't work on screen.


Terminator Genesys
No, I haven't seen it either. Not gonna see it. But apparently, it isn't as terrible as the above. I've not liked the look of it since that trailer spoiled the main plot twist, and apparently it doesn't get any better from there.


Dr Who
I'm not looking forward to the new season. While it wasn't Peter Capaldi's fault, the last series was painfully inconsistent, and don't get me started on the Moon episode. Things can always pick up, but some new writers would be a plus. And I don't like Clara any more.


Combiner Wars Remoulds
Okay, Combiner Wars has yet to produce a combiner component whom is actually bad. I'd go so far as to say half of them are worth buying twice. I just wish we didn't have to. And we had a few more Decepticons.


Takara's Unite Warriors Line
Full marks chaps for giving us a deluxe Groove, an improved Devastator, and hopefully Blast Off. Loose 20 points for ignoring play features to get more G1 combiner teams though. Powerglide, Blackjack and tiny Groove were designed to interact with respective teams, and you are selling them short by shuffling them into Transformers Adventure line. I'm not hugely impressed with you ignoring Alpha Bravo and Off Road either, as it means you have doubled up on moulds for the Superion and Menasor boxsets. Which kind of leads me on to the next point.


The Generation 1 Cartoon As Gospel
Guys, I know you love the cartoon. I love the cartoon. But it was thirty years ago, and it wasn't that well-made in the day. So can we all stop giving Hasbro and IDW grief for doing stuff that deviates from that template?


Fun Publications
Nice to see you getting some use out of the Armada Starscream mould. Now, be a dear and take those Arms Microns you have out the back, and do us an Armada boxset. Just for a change? Also, maybe stay away from IDW concepts? Not to disrespect your fiction, but you aren't in the same weight class, and people (wrongly) assume you are somehow preventing a mass market release.

Next week: more reviews.






Thursday 20 August 2015

A Concise Review of Combiner Wars Protectobot Groove In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Legend, 2015.
Modes: Robot, Motorbike, Combiner Breastplate.
Transformation Style: CW legend, chest minion.
Play Patterns: Robot and vehicle, “sixth member” combiner, 5mm weaponry.
Points of Interest: Round 335353 of the Hasbro Vs Takara argument, where this character is available in Japan as a new mould deluxe, and this actual toy got shifted elsewhere.






The Good
Groove's robot mode is nicely articulated for the size, with ten points, and inherits some elements from his G1 toy without being a block. His bike mode differs more strongly, but has an Akira-meets-CHiPS vibe which I like, and rolls well enough. The chestplate form meanwhile is a fairly dramatic improvement over Blackjack's in that it does not resemble a car randomly attached with blu-tak. Not only is it secure, it looks like a distinct mode for the toy. While lacking a weapon, he does have 5mm hands, and a 5mm port on his left leg to accept borrowed weapons.





The Bad
Groove suffers from some odd proportions, and ends up being some 60% leg. Paint applications see black done over white plastic, resulting in flaws I intend to correct. The instructions tell you to attach him the wrong way up in combined mode, missing an hexagonal port. His hands are a potential point for breakage, while the bike mode relies on friction in the joints, both of which are probably going to be issues down the line.





The Mediocre
Groove's chestplate mode is something of a zero sum if getting an 80's style protectobot team is important to you. On the one hand, you get all of the original five, the scale makes some sense, and Groove adds welcome bulk. On the other, he does obscure a lot of G1 style detailing. There's also a mysterious 5mm peg on his right leg, its purpose unknown at time of writing, but it might be for a “gun mode” in relation to a voyager mould.





The Alternatives
Groove famously has a Takara exclusive deluxe version, while this toy will be retooled into Wreck-Gar. However, if you what want is a real nice bikeformer, go strait for Animated Prowl in some form. That toy and its iterations are the gold standard for such things.





The Verdict
Groove is in a bit of a weird position. Compared to the Powerglide and Blackjack toys that preceded this, he's a more refined product, having a stronger fictional connection, a combination that works well, and no issue with tolerances. He is however unremarkable in comparison to those toys, as while they had their lows, the highs more than made up for it. Groove doesn't quite have that, and is dramatically over-shadowed by the Japanese deluxe, although that is unreleased at time of writing. If you want him, he's nice. But he's not compulsory.

Tuesday 18 August 2015

A Concise Review of Combiner Wars Protectobot Hot Spot (And Defensor) In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Voyager, 2015.
Modes: Robot, Fire Engine, Combiner Torso.
Transformation Style: CW voyager, wraparound style.
Play Patterns: Robot and vehicle, combiner, 5mm weaponry.
Points of Interest: New voyager to be retooled into his Decepticon counterpart, Onslaught.





The Good
Hot Spot has probably the best robot mode in his size class so far in Combiner Wars, and with the rest of his team, probably the best combined mode. The robot mode is visually pleasing, with 21 joints, and two guns detailed like fire hoses. This guy excels at gun-fu poses, or putting out imaginary fires, and actually turns his backpack into a strength, as a makeshift figure stand. As robot modes go, its a smidgen from ideal, and Defensor is similarly awesome, striking the right balance between beef and play value. With 33 joints, a nice look, and some chunky components, Defensor definitely benefits from the lessons learned in earlier waves. The vehicle mode meanwhile has a ladder articulated in 3 places and a total of 6 5mm ports.





The Bad
To be blunt, the vehicle mode is awful to look at, and can be considered a list of “Don'ts”. The front end has a longitudinal seam, where the legs don't meet, and his hips are exposed. The middle features Visible Head Syndrome, while the back seems to be missing a component, so the ladder partially floats above another hollow, while the fists are visible under the back bumper. There's almost no ground clearance. I am also concerned by the rubberised plastic used in the combiner bits. There's too much flex, which can cause minor tabbing problems in Defensor mode, and its all attached by a thin strut. The knees are also annoying to get in place, and come mistransformed.





The Mediocre
As with all CW voyagers, the guns combine into a bigger one for Defensor to wield, and it looks a bit meh. You can make it work with Blades in arm mode, but its something you are probably best off stowing. There's also some articulation and proportional quirks that arise from combination choices, mostly involving Hot Spot's feet and Blades being skinny, but never anything resembling a problem.





The Alternatives
As with the rest of the team, there's the Japanese version, and the mould reuses. If all you want is a fire truck though, consider the Classics Inferno toy.





Conclusion
As an individual, Hot Spot is a great toy, but his ratio of win to fail is very similar to CW Silverbolt. His robot mode is great, overcoming the problems imposed by that backpack to make one of the undoubted highlights of the line. The torso mode is another winner, with genuinely clever engineering to achieve it. The vehicle mode is however the worst I've seen on a voyager in a few years, if not without fun. Buy the team, but not just this guy.



Sunday 16 August 2015

Blog Watch: Week 1








Well, its a week in, where do we stand? Going by the analytics, the new blog is off by a reasonable start. The old blog is still has much higher traffic, but things on on the upswing here. I need to build things up again, but baby steps. What now? The plan is to do two reviews a week, perhaps with substitute/additional articles as the mood strikes. The subject matter is similarly subject to my whims; there's a number toys I never reviewed, but also some I feel would benefit from the concise format, or I reviewed so long ago a revisit won't hurt. I also intend to do a few long-form reviews if the subject requires it, but I'm sticking to 500 words for the default, due to time constraints. In any case, I'm attending Auto Assembly, so material should be plentiful. 


Here's an outline of what to expect in coming weeks.

Next Week: the rest of the Combiner Wars Protectobots.

The Week After: Two fairly anonymous Decepticons.

September: Some bigger toys.


Hope to see you all back soon.

Thursday 13 August 2015

A Concise Review of Combiner Wars Protectobot First Aid In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Deluxe, 2015.
Modes: Robot, Advanced Life Support (ALS) vehicle, Arm, and Leg.
Transformation Style: CW deluxe limb, Off Road style.
Play Patterns: Robot and vehicle, combiner, 5mm weaponry, C Clip functionality, a pack-in comic in the USA.
Points of Interest: A heavy retool of Off Road from wave 2.





The Good
First Aid is actually a more through reworking than initial impressions suggest, and shines in vehicle mode. With all the vehicle bits replaced, First Aid makes for a convincing ALS/paramedic vehicle, one that isn't afraid to drive in the mud. This helps to separate him from the better known Ratchet, (so far,) and similarities to Offroad are downplayed. While retaining a roof tab to mount the combiner piece, C clip rungs are also present in a most pleasant surprise, and are in a useful position for arm mode. The robot mode ticks the right boxes too, the head being great, with fourteen joints, and the "bonnet bonnet" evoking the G1 original. And let us not forget, Offroad was a solid deluxe in the first place, so the fundamentals are there.





The Bad
His most extensive areas of retooling involve the arms and back legs, which seems to have exacerbated a problem Off Road had with pegging those bits together, not to mention the kibble around there. Getting things flush in vehicle or arm mode took practice, and there's an unsightly gap in his belt buckle. He's also some lost some play value in the process, as he no-longer has the 5mm arm ports. Quality control meanwhile is a bit suspect, with some misapplied red paint splotches on the hands. The back windows and hubcaps are regrettably unpainted too.





The Mediocre
These weapons are of course inherited from Off Road, which while perfectly fine, don't necessarily suit the character. Perhaps they could have done a pistol, or a legislator cannon like from that infamous scene, but an axe and combiner piece is okay.





The Alternatives
First Aid is one of the few CW toys not to have multiple reuses so far, although Off Road has three. This combined with his status as G1 character with a strong IDW comic presence makes him a hard dude to replace without spoiling the Protectobot theme. Technically, any CW deluxe can however, as can the Japanese release.


The Verdict
While I'd like to pin the blame on the backend being annoying to assemble, rather than any real issue, First Aid is my least favourite Protectobot. There's definitely been a lot of effort expended in making him as unique as he can be from Off Road, but not all change is welcome. That said, he's still got merit, and he certainly doesn't count as a negative to the team overall.

Tuesday 11 August 2015

A Concise Review of Combiner Wars Protectobot Streetwise In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Deluxe, 2015.
Modes: Robot, Police Interceptor, Arm, and Leg.
Transformation Style: CW deluxe limb, hollow feet style.
Play Patterns: Robot and vehicle, combiner, 5mm weaponry, a pack-in comic in the USA.
Points of Interest: A heavy retool of the aggressively reused Dead End from wave 2.





The Good
Dead End was a highlight of wave 2, so Streetwise is off to an ideal start. The new parts are comprehensive, but not invasive, so Streetwise looks different while retaining those merits. What merits? Above average articulation at sixteen points, a badass altmode, and pleasing limb modes. He's also arguably superior to Dead End in that he carries a triple-barrelled shotgun as opposed to a club. This is excellent, as while a police baton would have made sense, its a triple-barrelled shotgun. You have to be very serious about things not to welcome that. They even fixed the grey bicep problem. When it comes to play value, being a robot, being a car, or being a limb, Streetwise is pretty damn good.


The Bad
Streetwise suffers in that his paint and plastic colours just aren't as attractive as Dead End's, or some of his teammates. The particular shades of white and red used evoke raspberry ripple ice cream, while details like hubcaps go unpainted. In terms of less subjective flaws, his arm mode meanwhile retains the faintly annoying hollow forearm, and his combiner piece is still loose in his hands.





The Mediocre

Quality control seems to have been mixed on my example. On the plus side, Streetwise has some tighter tolerances than Dead End, a boon to his role as a combiner limb. However, this is at least partially due to excess plastic around joints, something which hampered transformation until I removed some of it. Other joints are functional, but show signs of the reuse. The wonderful shotgun was also sloppily painted.





The Alternatives
Combiner Wars is known for its reuse of moulds, and Streetwise is definitely one of the more familiar toys. With ten iterations of the same basic toy, depending on how you count, the odds are good you already HAVE an alternative if this line interests you. Or will do when the next wave comes out.


The Verdict
Dead End was a real good toy, and by extension, so is Streetwise. As remoulds go, he's definitely a superior example, and criticisms are minor. What may end up ruining his reputation after the fact is familiarity breeding contempt, when Prowl and Smokescreen turn up, but that isn't his fault. He's arguably better than the original.

Sunday 9 August 2015

A Concise Review of Combiner Wars Protectobot Rook In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Deluxe, 2015.
Modes: Robot, SWAT APC, Arm, and Leg.
Transformation Style: CW deluxe limb, shellformer.
Play Patterns: Robot and vehicle, combiner, 5mm weaponry, a pack-in comic in the USA, HULK HANDS.
Points of interest: The singular new mould in wave 3, replacing Groove, whom is controversially a legends toy.





The Good
While looking excellent and having all the positives of a CW toy, Rook's main selling point is HULK HANDS. Rook unusually omits 5mm fist holes, in exchange for ports that point forward, where you can attach his claw, or more interestingly, combiner pieces. Yes, he can punch people with really huge fists, and the good doesn't end there. He also has 5mm ports on each shoulder, and one on the back, so he can use all the combiner bits the Protectobots have, while storing the claw. His articulation is also on the high side for a CW deluxe, as while he lacks ankles, they do tilt, for a total sixteen joints. The vehicle mode is similarly fun and visually pleasing. Not only does the the claw look a lot better in this mode, the combiner piece comes into its own, benefiting from its own 5mm peg and port to become a limited turret. Alternatively, and I love this far more than is sensible, you can use that bumper port and have him punch things at speed. Limb modes meanwhile look huge and powerful, which retain many 5mm ports.





The Bad
While Rook appears big, its all an illusion, with big hollows in the legs, and large chunks of vehicle hanging off him. This also results in a surprisingly small altmode, with a case of Visible Head Syndrome which can be offset by his combiner piece.





The Mediocre
While he gets a lot of use from combiner pieces, the claw he comes with is rather weedy, but that's it.





The Alternatives
Takara has snubbed Rook in favour of their own deluxe version of Groove, which is going to be extremely compelling to G1 purists willing to import an exclusive boxset. Rook is also being heavily retooled into the better known Hound and Swindle.


The Verdict
It would be very easy to overhype Rook given the number of remoulds on the Protectobot roster, but that's not the case. He may be the best overall deluxe so far, rivalling Dead End/Streetwise for the simple reason of being fun. The play value is the best of any individual Combiner Wars toy so far, and while visual flaws do exist, there's they ultimately don't matter. Assuming you are not a G1 purist rejecting the toy on principle, this a transformer you need in your collection.

A Concise Review of Combiner Wars Protectobot Blades In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Deluxe, 2015.
Modes: Robot, Rescue Helicopter, Arm, and Leg.
Transformation Style: CW deluxe limb, collapsible legs.
Play Patterns: Robot and aircraft, combiner, 5mm weaponry, a pack-in comic in the USA.
Points of interest: Pre/retool of wave 1 Alpha Bravo, with new head and deco.




The Good
Assuming you didn't take an immediate dislike to him for being a new character, Alpha Bravo was one of the better things about wave 1, and Blades benefits from that foundation. His robot mode is slightly more articulated than the CW norm, with sixteen points, and comes with a lot of guns. The new head is spot on, paint is plentiful, and the deco has been thoroughly remixed. Its the best Blades has ever looked. The helicopter mode meanwhile benefits from tampographs, and a combiner piece that doubles as a weapon pod and a stand. As with all CW toys, play value is a definite strength, if not from the combing gimmick, but then from all the 5mm weaponry.





The Bad
The Aerialbot moulds are pretty terrible at concealing robot bits in their altmodes, and even if Alpha Bravo wasn't the worst offender, Blades inherits that problem. The arms don't really go anywhere, and the head is exposed. There's also some minor kibble issues in the robot and arm modes, with the latter inviting a slight mistransformation to free the elbow.






The Mediocre
Its worth pointing out that a rescue helicopter probably shouldn't have missiles on it. Not even one as inexplicably bloodthirsty as Blades. Its not a bad look, but some further retooling would have helped. Blades also ends up quite skinny in comparison to the rest of the Protectobot deluxes, which effects Defensor's proportions.





The Alternatives
There is, of course, the limited release Takara boxset version, if you want something closer to the 1980's cartoon, although this is unreleased at the time of writing. Also, Combiner Wars is extremely fond of reusing moulds, so if you don't like this particular helicopter, there's others. And other compatible toys.


The Verdict
If you've brought any CW toys before, you probably have a good idea what he's like. Fortunately, Blades is still pretty good, if suffering in helicopter mode. He passes the acid test for any remould, in that he feels like a different toy. He just isn't as good as some other members of his team, and he could have been a lot better if they'd tweaked his altmode as with the Fan Built Combiner team. Pick him up to complete the team, or if you haven't got the mould, but he's not mandatory otherwise.

New Blog Here

Hi there folks, my name is Urluck, and this is blog. Formerly hosted at soon to be closed blog.co.uk, this blog will mainly feature transformers toys. And the occassional rant, not doubt.

So welcome to new readers, hello to old ones!

More to come soon.